Australia’s central bank held its key interest rate at a 13-year high on Tuesday, aiming to keep up the pressure on stubbornly sticky inflation while joining much of the world in waiting for the outcome of US elections.

High inflation, a still-strong jobs market and flat-lining productivity continue to dissuade Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock from providing relief to borrowers.

It’s been an entire year without any relief from soaring interest rates for Australia, and increasingly it looks like a cut will be delayed until well into 2025

Australia’s central bank is poised to keep interest rates at a 13-year high, marking a year of unchanged policy as it grapples with a slow pace of disinflation and mounting global risks capped by a tight US election.

Mortgage holders have been given no pre-Christmas relief, with the Reserve Bank of Australia keeping the cash rate on hold at its November meeting. The RBA kept the cash rate at 4.35 per cent, as widely anticipated.

The ASX200 has been down 0.4% at 8,133 points. The Reserve Bank Board has decided to keep rates on hold at 4.35% in line with consensus expectations. The decision coincides with the Melbourne Cup – the race that stops a nation.