SYDNEY, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Australia's central bank has kept its key interest rate on hold at 4.1 percent, matching economists' expectations.

The monetary policy board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday announced it has kept the cash rate target unchanged at 4.1 percent following a two-day meeting.

It comes after the RBA board reduced the rate from 4.35 percent to 4.1 percent at its previous meeting in February, marking the first interest rate cut since November 2020.

The decision to keep the rate on hold was widely anticipated by economists and comes in the middle of Australia's general election campaign ahead of polling day on May 3.

Announcing the decision, the RBA board said in a monetary policy statement that it is "resolute in its determination" to sustainably return inflation to its target band of 2-3 percent.

According to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics late in March, Australia's annual rate of underlying inflation fell to 2.7 percent in the 12 months to February, down from a peak of 7.2 percent in the year to December 2022.

"Nevertheless, the Board needs to be confident that this progress will continue so that inflation returns to the midpoint of the target band on a sustainable basis," the RBA's monetary policy decision said. "It is therefore cautious about the outlook."

The decision was the first made by the RBA's new monetary policy board following government reforms that split the central bank's board into two, with one in charge of interest rate policy and the other overseeing corporate governance.

The RBA monetary policy board will next meet in late May. Enditem

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