Australia's Economic Recovery May Flounder on Rising Interest Rates

Rising borrowing costs may become a major hurdle Australia’s nascent economic recovery in the months ahead: while the RBA has kept benchmark interest rates on hold at 3% since February, the cost of borrowing in Australian Dollars for six months or longer in the interbank market has gradually crept higher over recent months. This will act as a barrier to spending and investment, weighing on economic growth. Indeed, data released today showed that [B]Investment Lending[/B] and [B]Home Loans[/B] both fell in July, the former by the most since January and the latter for the first time in 10 months.