Australia's first quarter economic growth falls short of expectations, increasing likelihood of rate cuts

According to Jin10 data, Australia's economic performance in the first quarter was poor due to weak public demand and exports, with GDP growing only 0.2%, below the expected 0.4%. The annual growth rate was 1.3%, also below the expected 1.5%.

Alex Joiner, chief economist at IFM Investors, stated that this data supports further easing of policy by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The money market pricing shows that the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut in July is close to 90%.

Financial traders expect Australia's cash rate to be around 3.1% by the end of the year.