The formulation of monetary policy is the primary responsibility of the Reserve Bank Board . The Board normally meets eleven times each year, on the first Tuesday of the month except in January. Hence the dates of meetings are well known in advance. For each meeting the Bank's staff prepare a detailed account of developments in the Australian and international economies, and in domestic and international financial markets. The papers contain a recommendation for the policy decision.
Senior staff attend the meeting and give presentations.
Decisions by the Reserve Bank Board to change interest rates are communicated publicly, usually on the day following the meeting. The implementation of monetary policy Graph 2 Click to view larger Graph 3 Click to view larger From day to day, the Bank's Domestic Markets Department has the task of maintaining conditions in the money market so as to keep the cash rate at or near an operating target decided by the Board. The cash rate is the rate charged on overnight loans between financial intermediaries. It has a powerful influence on other interest rates and forms the base on which the structure of interest rates in the economy is built. The close relationship between the cash rate and other money market interest rates can be seen in Graph 2.