Grim warning: RBA boss says interest rates may again be lifted
The head of Australia’s central bank has issued a sombre warning about how the worst is still yet to come for interest rates and inflation.
Australians are already feeling the financial pain after the Reserve Bank (RBA) announced another interest rate rise on Tuesday afternoon, lifting interest rates by 25 basis points.
News.com.au reported the move brought the cash rate from 2.6 per cent to 2.85 per cent, taking the rate to a nine-year high.
It also marked the seventh consecutive month that Australians had to endure a an increase.
NAB was the first major bank to pass on the rate rise to its customers.
The website said within minutes of delivering the bad news, RBA Governor Philip Lowe said that the future also appeared fraught as he had no choice but to keep lifting rates, with inflation showing no signs of abating.
Mr Lowe said he had decided to up the rate by 25 basis points because inflation is forecast to hit eight per cent by the end of the year, in a sign that months of interest rates have not yet curbed inflation woes.
“A further increase in inflation is expected over the months ahead, with inflation now forecast to peak at around 8 per cent later this year,” he wrote in a statement.
Read the full report here.
