Interest rate decision welcomed Wed 2 May 2012 Lara Giddings Premier The Premier, Lara Giddings, has welcomed the RBA's move to cut official interest rates by 50 basis points to its lowest level in over two years. Ms Giddings said that reducing the cash rate to 3.75% would give the banks no excuse for not passing on significant savings for borrowers. "This is will be provide a much-needed confidence boost for Tasmanian families and businesses and I hope it will encourage them to invest more in the broader economy. "It means more money in consumer's pockets, which will give confidence to our retail sector and its 26,000 strong Tasmanian workforce. "Cheaper access to credit for business will also support profitability and promote new investment. "Importantly rates relief puts downward pressure on the high Australian dollar, which is hurting our local exporters," Ms Giddings said. Ms Giddings said that while the Government was focused on restoring confidence in Tasmania the Liberal Party continued to pursue its obsession with talking down our State economy. "Today's episode of the Liberal Party fear program was seizing on soft house prices as evidence of recession. "What they conveniently ignore is that every capital city across the nation has experienced a decline in house prices over the past year. "It is telling that Mr Hodgman decided to pick this as an issue just before the RBA delivered its biggest monthly rate cut in more than three years. "Lower rates bring more people into the housing market, in turn serving to strengthen prices and residential construction activity," Ms Giddings said. Ms Giddings said that that if the 50 point cut was passed on in full by the banks, it would equate to around a $70 per month reduction in average home loan repayments in Tasmania.
