How to fetch the RBA cash rate in Python (without parsing CSVs)

#python #api #finance #tutorial

If you have ever tried to programmatically get the current RBA cash rate, you know the drill. You open the RBA F1 statistical table, download f01hist.xls, write a pandas.read_excel call, fight with the multi-row header (Series ID on row 11, units on row 6), filter, sort, take the last row.

That is 30 lines of code to get a single number that changes 11 times a year.

One line (MIT, no key)

from rba_mcp import client
print(client.latest("F1_1", series="cash_rate_target").records[-1].value)
# live AU.CASHRATE as of 2026-09-03: 4.35

pip install rba-mcp

No key. MIT-licensed. Attribution and source URL come back with the number.

Hosted gateway

Use GET /v1/series/AU.CASHRATE/latest on api.ausdata.io with a free key from ausdata.io (500 calls/mo).

Live 2026-09-06: cash 4.35 percent, trimmed-mean CPI 3.6 percent (2026-Q2), real rate 0.75 percent.

Why the hosted path exists

The RBA publishes the nominal cash rate. The ABS publishes inflation. Neither publishes the real cash rate (nominal minus trimmed-mean CPI). Use /v1/real-rate-regime for that join.

Same envelope across nine AU sources: source, source_url, attribution, retrieved_at.

MCP

Wire ausdata-mcp via npx in Claude Desktop or Cursor. Sisters on PyPI run fully local with no key.

What this is not

Suburb-level property prices
Live KYC / company-officer lookup
5-minute wholesale electricity bid stacks

AU macro public data, one envelope, citations done for you.

R users

readrba by Matt Cowgill is the R equivalent. This is the Python / JS / agent path.

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