The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced on Tuesday it keep key interest rates 4.5 percent, but analysts said the central bank may resume the most aggressive series of rate increases in the Group of 20 in the third quarter.

Stephen Walters, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Sydney said the RBA's tightening has merely paused "but not ended." He said central bank Governor Glen Stevens would release on July 28 a report that would deliver an "inflation shock" resulting to further increase in key policy rates.

Stevens kept the current cash rate at 4.5 percent after announcing at least six rate hikes in the previous RBA board meetings to prevent consumer prices from accelerating. Inflation jumped to 2.9 percent in the first quarter, the fastest pace in more than a year, as a mining boom driven by Chinese demand fueled Australian wages.

Robert Mead, head of portfolio management at the Australian unit of Pacific Investment Co., which manages some A$28 billion ($23.3 billion) in assets, said they believe the RBA would increase cash rates closer to 5 percent by the end of 2010, unless a new round of financial crisis threatens the global markets.

In April, the RBA raised the key rates by a quarter percentage point, because of the rising demand for Australian commodities in Asia and booming jobs in the U.S. and Europe.

The interest-rate moves helped stoke a 27 percent gain in Australia's dollar in the 12 months through April 30, making it the second-best performer among the world's 16 most-traded currencies. The currency tumbled 9 percent in May, driving up import prices, as European Union policy makers moved to prevent a potential Greek debt default.

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