Chris Caton, chief economist at BT Financial Group and a former Treasury official, said the Reserve Bank Australia could move after its next board meeting on September 7 rather than risk waiting until after an election, which may be as late as April.In a research note to clients yesterday, Dr Caton raised the "non-trivial possibility" of a September rate rise. The bank may "be tempted to take the medicine early" rather than wait around for an election that could be held eight months from now. Economists have largely assumed that the bank would not raise rates before an election. But in an interview with the author Stephen Bell, the Reserve Bank's governor, Ian Macfarlane, said: "If there was a really strong case to do something we would always do it regardless." BTFG.
