These increases have been fairly close together but then so were the preceding reductions. It is important to recall that the cash rate was reduced by 75 or 100 basis points at each meeting of the Board in late 2008 and early 2009, for a total of 375 basis points in five months after the Lehman failure in September.
This was the biggest proportional decline in interest rates, delivering the biggest reduction in the debt servicing burden of the household sector, seen in Australia’s modern history. It was an appropriate response to the situation. These changes were newsworthy, as interest rate changes always are.