Commercial banks’ profitability ratios were, on average, much lower than in previous years, but were still quite strong by regional and international standards. The return on assets fell to an annual average of 2.5 percent in 2009–2011 from around 3.5 percent during the period 2006–2008.
The Board took this decision given the assessment that Australia was facing a prolonged period of high unemployment and inflation was unlikely to return sustainably to the target range of 2–3 per cent for at least 3 years.