Australia keeps rates on hold, warns on housing

SYDNEY: Australia’s central bank held interest rates at a record low 1.50 percent for a seventh straight meeting Tuesday as it juggles a booming property market with mixed economic data.

The Reserve Bank of Australia slashed rates 300 basis points between November 2011 and August last year to support non-resources industries as the economy transitions out of a mining investment boom. It has remained on hold since then.