Australian Dollar Due To Fall

Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s central bank may more than halve its benchmark interest rate as the nation enters a long and deep recession, former Governor Bernie Fraser said.
Fraser, Reserve Bank of Australia chief during the nation’s last recession in 1991, said policy makers may reduce the overnight cash rate target to less than 2 percent from 4.25 percent now. The bank’s board gathers for the first time this year on Feb. 3.
“This recession will be deeper and longer than the last recession in 1991,” Fraser said in a phone interview from his home near Canberra. “The Reserve Bank could go below 2 percent; they will go as low as they need to and a further stimulus from the government will be required.”