RBA offers no hints on further rate cuts THE Reserve Bank has adopted a wait-and-see approach on the cash rate, allowing for the federal election and previous rate cuts to take effect. Tuesday's decision to leave the rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent was widely expected, with all 14 economists surveyed by AAP last week forecasting no change at the September board meeting. In a statement accompanying the decision, RBA governor Glenn Stevens said growth was still below trend and would remain that way as the economy moved away from being driven by the mining sector. He said the Australian dollar, currently around 90 US cents, was still high by historical levels despite falling 15 per cent since April. "The board will continue to assess the outlook and adjust policy as needed to foster sustainable growth in demand and inflation outcomes consistent with the target," Mr Stevens said. The RBA statement covered no new ground, with little guidance on future rate movements, RBC Capital Markets senior economist Su-Lin Ong said. The omission of the RBA's now familiar sentence about 'scope to ease policy further' would be viewed as a watering down of the RBA's cash rate easing bias, she said. "We caution against over-interpreting today's statement which comes amid the final week of an election campaign heavily focused on the economy, budgetary position, and jobs," Ms Ong said. JP Morgan chief economist Stephen Walters said there was "no way" the RBA would cut the cash rate just days out from a federal election. "One rate cut early in the election campaign was easily explained - two would be unnecessarily bold, and could be perceived, wrongly and mischievously, as the RBA providing tacit support to the ruling Labor Party," Mr Walters said. (The statement) avoided making sudden moves, officials apparently wanting to stay largely out of sight until the election passes. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said the RBA seemed comfortable to wait to see the effects of previous cuts, plus any move in the Australian dollar.