Reserve Bank of Australia – Interest Rates, Aug 1990 - Dec 2021

An overview of historical interest rates in Australia since 1990.

Overview

The purpose of this project was to anaylse three (3) seperate interest rate indices of the Reserve Bank of Australia between August 1990 and December 2021.

The three indices chosen in this analysis included:

• Cash Rate Target (the interest rate on unsecured overnight loans between banks).
• Interbank Overnight Cash Rate (the weighted average of the interest rate at which overnight unsecured funds are transacted in the domestic interbank markets).
• Six-month BAB/NCD (six-monthly calculation of interest rates measured where the interbank market trades bank accepted bills (BABs) and negotiable certificates of deposit (NCDs).

Analysis

Cash Rate Target

Interbank Overnight Cash Rate

Six-month BAB/NCD

Comparison

Index	Average	Highest	Lowest
Cash Rate Target	4.55%	14.00% (Aug 1990)	0.10% (Dec 2020-)
Interbank Overnight Cash Rate	4.53%	14.07% (Aug 1990)	0.03% (Jan-Oct 2021)
Six-Month BAB/NCD	4.66%	13.92% (Aug 1990)	0.01% (Jan, Feb, Aug, Sep 2021)

Considerations

• 2008-12 (GFC and recovery)
• 2020- (COVID-19 pandemic)

References

Reserve Bank of Australia, 2021, 'Interest Rates and Yields - Monthly Market - Monthly
https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/tables/#interest-rates