Reserve Bank’s dovish interest rate rise gives Jim Chalmers more cause to grin than grimace

The treasurer was used to empathising with borrowers after the RBA's supersized' rises - instead, he got to talk about the budget

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers likes to smile a lot and Tuesday's surprisingly moderate interest rate move gave him extra cause to grin rather than grimace.

The novelty of only a 25 basis point rise by the Reserve Bank on Monday - when most investors had been betting on twice that - lifted the cash rate to 2.6%.