Aussie bank governor quits as growth notches 100th quarter

Australia’s central bank governor Glenn Stevens chaired his final meeting earlier with the country set to record its 100th straight quarter of growth tomorrow.

Stevens, who has run the Reserve Bank for the past decade, stands down next week and on Tuesday left the key interest rate unchanged at 1.5%.

“Taking account of the available information, and having eased monetary policy at its May and August meetings, the board judged that holding the stance of policy unchanged at this meeting would be consistent with sustainable growth in the economy and achieving the inflation target over time,” Glenn said.

When he was appointed in September 2006, Australia’s interest rate stood at 6.25% and the global financial crisis was two years away.

Glenn raised rates until 2010 but has cut them 12 times since then to the current record low.

None of Australia’s banks required a government bailout during the crisis and the economy has managed to grow for a continuous 25 years despite slowdowns in China and falling demand for commodities across the world.

The Australian dollar rose by the most for a month today, gaining 0.5% to 0.7621 against the US dollar.

Glenn will be succeeded by his deputy, Philip Lowe.