Aussie rate rise

Australia’s central bank lifted its benchmark interest rate yesterday for the first time in more than 11 years. The cash rate rose from 0.1 per cent to 0.35 per cent in a move potentially damaging to the Liberal Government’s re-election chances on May 21. A rise was widely expected after official data released last week showed Australia’s inflation rose to 5.1 per cent in the year to the end of March. The result was driven by a surge in fuel and housing costs as well as food shortages created by recent Australian floods. It is the first time that the bank has shifted interest rates during a federal election campaign since 2007, when Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative government was voted out of office.