ECONOMY

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced a widely expected decision on Tuesday as it kept rates on hold and gave borrowers yet another month to breathe easy over mortgage repayment costs.

The banking industry should comply with the standards of the global banking regulator.

The Transport Workers Union in New South Wales (NSW) is shifting police attention from truck drivers to trucking companies over illegal drug use.

The confidence of Australia's executives is showing clear signs of improvement, according to the latest Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Business Expectations Survey released on Tuesday.

Australia's economy is set to boom within the next 10 years, according to a leading economist.

The police and the consumer protection commission in Western Australia issued a joint warning against the growing number of Ponzi schemes.

The banking industry in Australia has seen a growth in term deposits.

The Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef launched a tourism campaign in order to attract more than 4,000 extra visitors to the Mon Repos turtle rookery.

The Australia and New Zealand Bank (ASX: ANZ) latest survey shows a rise in job vacancies posted in major metropolitan newspapers and on the worldwide web.

The University of Melbourne released a survey showing a monthly inflation gauge of 0.2 percent for August.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) data shows a 15.2 percent rise in the sale of new cars in August. The figure translates to nearly 695,666 new cars being sold in for a twelve month period until August 2010.

The Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) sold $700 million worth of Treasury Bonds.

The seasonally adjusted Australian Industry Group (AI Group)-Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index stayed below the critical 50-point level for the fourth consecutive month.

Groupola recently polled 1, 198 couples in the United Kingdom to ask them: Who tops your list of guilt-free celebrity hook-ups? Sixty-nine percent (69%) of the women participating in the survey chose Angelina Jolie's man Brad Pitt. Hollywood's Megan Fox is the top choice of seventy-two percent (72%) of the men.

The wheat crop production in New South Wales will be the highest in the state.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed on Thursday that the country’s trade surplus in July barely made it to the $2 billion mark, sharply detracting from the $3.438 billion surplus posted in the prior month and way below the $3.1 billion previously projected by most economists.

A fifty percent rise in electricity prices within a five year span is an alarming figure.

A 77 percent decline in exports to China resulted in a worse than expected trade figures for July.

Credit demand of Australia's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) plunged 5.6 percent in the second quarter.

Even with the effects of the global financial crisis, at a combined annual growth rate of 4.7 per cent, the world retirement market is forecast to expand 66 per cent by 2020 with total assets climbing from $35 trillion in 2009 to almost $58 trillion.

Strong GDP growth published on Wednesday brings rate hikes back onto the Reserve Bank of Australia's agenda although the central bank can still wait, according to Bankwest, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA).

The construction sector contributed largely to the growth of the Australian economy during the June quarter.

The Australian debt market holds back with a weak start as the entire trading floor waits for the release of the Gross Domestic Product figures before noon.

Uncertainty in the political arena, slow-paced production growth, and a drop in new orders put on the brakes for manufacturing activities in August.

Housing and business activity data from the largest economy in the world provided the impetus for the Australian dollar to open slightly higher than Tuesday.

Australian companies are holding off on investment deals with banks.

Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC), the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), the National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB), and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) accumulated $798 billion of mortgage debt.

China should not be allowed to become a direct investor in the mining and agriculture business

Retail figures in July have shown significant growth but the figures are being propped up by the lifestyle choices of ordinary Australians as they spend their money on takeaway food, cafes and restaurants, says the Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA).