After its latest 2-day meeting wrapped yesterday, the Reserve Bank board left interest rates on hold at 4.35% – a move that Treasurer Jim Chalmers labelled as “not a surprise”. That’s because data last week showed that inflation was in line with the central bank’s expectations at 3.8% for the year to June. Add to that concerns about a recession in the US, and you get the feeling that pumping the brakes on our economy isn’t what they want to do right now… But getting inflation down to the target rate of 2-3% is proving “slowing and bumpy”, which Governor Michele Bullock says means we probably won’t see any rate cuts “near-term” – aka within the next 6 months. Nonetheless, Chalmers says yesterday’s decision will still be welcomed by mortgage holders as “Australians are doing it tough enough already”. Let’s pick this up in 6 weeks when they meet again…