CANBERRA, ACT, March 17 -- The Treasurer of Australia issued the following media release:
Today the independent Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Board increased the cash rate by 25 basis points.
We already had an inflation challenge in our economy but the war in the Middle East is making this challenge worse.
This will be really tough news for millions of Australians with a mortgage.
At a time of immense global instability, this will put even more pressure on families and businesses.
While today's decision was expected by many, that doesn't make it any easier.
Many Australians were already doing it tough and are now feeling the impact of conflict in the Middle East through higher petrol prices as well.
That's why we're rolling out respon...