Coronavirus Rate Cuts: Australia's Central Bank Did It First

Hours before the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Reserve Bank of Australia also cut interest rates in hopes of curbing market reaction to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

In a meeting held on March 3, the RBA announced it would be cutting the cash rate by 25 basis points to 0.50 percent, its lowest on record, according to recent figures.

Several hours later, the U.S. Federal Reserve also took action to cut interest rates by half a percentage point, between 1 and 1.25 percent, in its first emergency measure since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The cuts in Australia and the U.S. are designed to boost demand to assist in easing pressure for local businesses and homeowners.

It marks the first cut for Aussies this year and is further evidence that central bankers are becoming weary of the continuing threat the coronavirus poses on global growth.

"The coronavirus has clouded the near-term outlook for the global economy and means that global growth in the first half of 2020 will be lower than earlier expected," the RBA board said in a recent media release.

Like that of America's quantitative easing programs, have not been ruled out by the RBA, with preparations being made for additional rate cuts to ease monetary conditions even further.

In a recent tweet commenting on the RBA's decision, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. fell behind "Others" when it came to lowering interest rates, which were currently applying pressure to U.S. exporters.

The global slowdown in growth for stocks and bonds have so far failed to translate into higher prices for digital assets, which have intermittently held the status as a risk-off asset, forcing investors to play a much more dangerous game.

Bitcoin's role as a safe-haven asset continues to be questioned after it dropped 2 percent on Monday amid the backdrop of the U.S. Fed's decision to cut rates.