2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  While the Board remained of the view that, if conditions evolved in line with the forecasts, further tightening of monetary policy would be necessary at some point, the recent flow of data had not added any urgency to the need to adjust policy. Accordingly, the cash rate continued to be held steady.
At the time of the July meeting, global economic growth had eased, and the downside risks stemming from the European debt problems looked more significant. In Australia, households remained cautious and the housing market was soft. Also, it now appeared that the slow recovery in coal production would mean that earlier GDP forecasts for 2011 would not be met.