After the impressive performance of the economy in the first quarter, policymakers at the Reserve bank of Australia (RBA) seem to be in no rush to lower the interest rates.

One month after lowing interest rates to a historic low of 1.75%, the RBA remained on the sidelines in June, with policymakers remarking on the economy’s strong performance despite a massive decline in business investment that could complicate the future growth outlook.

According to the RBA’s statement last month, holding policy steady is consistent with their mandate of ensuring sustainable economic growth and supporting healthy inflation levels over time.

The Australian economy expanded 1.1% in the first quarter and 3.1% annually, the strongest pace of expansion in three years.

Deflationary risks compelled RBA to lower its cash rate by 25 basis points in May, as officials sought an aggressive approach to stimulate the economy.

Market analysis suggests that the risks posed by weak inflation are unlikely to subside in near term, which could prompt RBA to ease monetary policy further.

Under the guidance of Governor Glenn Stevens, the RBA has lowered interest rates from as high as 7.25% all the way down to the current rate of 1.75%. Mr. Stevens is set to step down as central bank chief in September, paving the way for successor and current Deputy Governor Philip Lowe to take the helm.

The latest survey of employment released by ABS reveals that employment increased by 17,900 during the month of May and unemployment stayed steady at 5.7%.

The data was in line with market expectations of an increase in jobs of 15000 and unemployment rate expectation of 5.7% so there has been no discernable impact on the Australian dollar or other markets. While the data was only a small beat in terms of market expectations there are encouraging signs of a robust employment market and a solid domestic economy.

While Male full time employment saw an increase by 17000, Female part time employment also increased strongly with a rise of 17,900. This is the eleventh consecutive month with part-time employment increases of more than 10,000 persons. The trend underutilisation rate, which is a quarterly measure that includes both unemployment and underemployment, remained steady at 14.2 per cent.

In case of any economic downturn in China the Australian dollar should act as a buffer according to the RBA.

Australia is exposed to lower commodity prices and a weaker appetite for its resources and services due to China’s uncertain outlook. Negative developments in external conditions leading to a depreciated Australian dollar could be expected to act as a buffer in the way that it has in the past.

China’s breakneck pace of growth has slowed in recent years and is projected to ease further. The Asian giant also faces greater risks of corporate defaults amid high debt, excess capacity and declining profitability.

This could lead to disruption in the financial system. However china being the largest trading partner of Australia has lots of room for development which will provide Australia with many economic opportunities. Australia is likely to benefit from rising incomes and associated demand for high quality food, goods and a wide array of household and business services from China.

After a period of 2 years, the price of gold has struck its highest level. The rise came against a backdrop of increasing haven demand over concerns about the possibility of a UK exit from the European Union and the US Federal Reserve’s scaling-back of projections for raising interest rates.

The price of spot gold touched an intraday high of $US1, 313.51 a troy ounce — its highest level since August 2014 — after having crossed the $US1, 300 psychological threshold on June 16, 2016.

A sustained growth is predicted in the near term amid market expectations that gold could hit $ US 1,400 a troy ounce this year. The gains have been fueled mostly by Western investment demand, but physical demand for gold in the world’s largest consumer, China, is seen as stable as the yuan depreciates. This is because of gold’s reputation as a value-retaining alternative currency in uncertain times. However, Analysts predict that gold could face a possible near term head-wind if the fed were to change course and increase interest rates in coming months.

More than 450,000 small businesses have implemented SuperStream ahead of the deadline. Many more small businesses will be SuperStream compliant when they make their super contributions for the June quarter.

While many have made the change, some small businesses may need extra time and help to become SuperStream Compliant. To support these businesses, the ATO has announced it will provide compliance flexibility to small businesses that are not yet SuperStream ready until 28 October 2016. No compliance action will be taken by the ATO against small businesses who miss the 30 June deadline. ATO will continue to work to support small businesses to get SuperStream ready.

Many businesses that have taken the time to find a SuperStream solution and have it up and running are experiencing the benefits, including an average time saving of 70 per cent in meeting their superannuation obligations. 88 per cent or more than 10.5 million employees are now receiving their super contributions in their accounts much quicker and with greater certainty due to SuperStream.

Businesses can select how to become SuperStream ready. Options include using a payroll system that meets the standard, a super fund’s online system, a messaging portal or a super clearing house like the ATO’s Small Business Super Clearing House (SBSCH). The SBSCH is a free, optional service for small business with 19 or fewer employees, as well as businesses with an annual aggregated turnover of $2 million or less.

In the times when Android based phones capture 60% of the Australian markets, well ahead of the apple’s 35% share Samsung recently launched its Samsung pay in Australia.

The idea of replacing cards in wallets will come to action with the Samsung pay. Australia is the fifth country where the mobile payments system has been rolled out after launching in South Korea last August, followed by the US, China and Spain. After a big success in the Korean & the US market registering 5 million users, Samsung has now entered the Australian market where customers are already using their smartphones to make payments. The Samsung pay adopts an open engagement model, designed to support payment and nonpayment cards from multiple providers which adds to the convenience of having all the cards in one place.

The MST technology enables Samsung Pay to support partners that use a traditional magnetic stripe, commonly found on loyalty cards, gift cards and transit cards, both in Australia and across the globe. The security feature is taken care with three levels of security including fingerprints/4- digit pin, tokenization and the proprietary software – Knox which scans to check security and can permanently disable Samsung Pay on a compromised device. Paying is a swipe up to choose the card you want, authenticating the transaction via the fingerprint sensor and tapping the phone on the point of sale terminal. It can also be used in an offline mode.

Samsung pay has the potential to be the country’s leading contactless payments system and can work on a range of Samsung smartphones including the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, and Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge thus adding to its value add services.