So today’s decision does not reflect a weaker outlook. Rather it reflects the fact that, even with the expected pick-up in growth, the Australian economy is likely to have spare capacity for a while yet. Today’s easing of monetary policy will help us make further inroads into that spare capacity.
It will assist with faster progress on reducing unemployment and will help achieve more assured progress towards the inflation target. So that is our rationale. I know that many of you are likely to have questions about today’s decision. I would like to take this opportunity to provide answers to some of your probable questions.