Australia well positioned to handle turmoil - IMF

(Reuters) - Australia is well positioned to handle a severe global financial market disruption and has ample room to cut its policy interest rate if world growth falters, the International Monetary Fund said on Saturday.
Australia's central bank this week held interest rates steady, as fears of a fresh global financial crisis outweighed local concerns over inflation and a mining investment boom.
In a quarterly statement on Friday, the central bank voiced concern over sovereign debt problems in Europe and the United States and the possibility of global recession.