BY JAMES GLYNN

SYDNEY -- The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its cash rate target a quarter of a percentage point to 4.00% to keep a lid on an accelerating economy that the central bank said may have already recovered to its long-term average growth rate.

Resuming a policy tightening that it paused in February, the RBA indicated that it will continue to lead Group of 20 countries in removing stimulus from the economy, saying that the latest rate rise is just another step in a process of raising rates back to normal.

"The board judges that with growth likely to be close ...