(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s central bank is expected to keep borrowing costs unchanged at next week’s meeting, delivering its first pause since initiating a policy tightening cycle in May 2022.

Sixteen of 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the Reserve Bank will stand pat at 3.6% on Tuesday. The other 11 anticipate a quarter percentage-point increase to 3.85%.

The RBA has raised rates by 3.5 percentage points in 10 straight hikes in the period between May and March, its most aggressive tightening cycle since 1989. Policymakers on Tuesday will weigh the need to keep tackling elevated inflation against signs that consumer prices have now peaked and the economy is beginning to slow.

The Federal Reserve and the European Central bank are among counterparts that have recently opted to keep hiking to try to rein in inflation, brushing aside market turmoil following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the US and trouble at Credit Suisse Group AG in Europe.

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