ISTANBUL

The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday decided to raise its policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.1%.

The bank's monetary policy board plans to make more interest rate hikes in the coming period, the statement added.

The bank also hiked the interest rate on exchange settlement balances by 25 basis points to 3%, it stated.

Saying that the country is facing high annual inflation, marked at 6.9% in October, the bank added that global factors and strong domestic demand have pushed up prices.

The bank said it expects higher rates in the coming months, forecasting a peak level of 8%.

The move on Tuesday was the eighth consecutive interest rate hike since April, when the rate was at 0.1%.