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The Reserve Bank has raised interest rates for the fourth month in a row, raising its target rate by half a percentage point. Key points: RBA has raised interest rates by 0.5 percentage point The target cash rate has now increased by 1.75 percentage points since early May to 1.85 percent A cash rate increase since early May will add about $472 per month to a $500,000 loan payment The RBA has now raised its benchmark interest rate by 1.75 percentage points since the first rate hike in May, with the target rate at 1.85 percent. In his post-meeting statement, Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe said the latest rate hike is unlikely to be the last this year. “The board expects to take further steps in the process of normalizing monetary conditions over the next few months, but not on a predetermined path,” he said. “The size and timing of future rate hikes will be guided by incoming data and the board’s assessment of the inflation and labor market outlook. “The Board is committed to doing wh

If you’re the person in your household who usually goes grocery shopping or fills the car, you don’t need a statistician to tell you that prices are going up. Nonetheless, the latest official reading of rising consumer prices is out on Wednesday from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This is called the Consumer Price Index, or CPI. “The way to measure inflation in Australia is to look at the different categories that consumers use to spend their money,” explains AMP senior economist Diana Mousina. The numerator at ABS goes around all the capital cities and checks the latest prices for this “basket of goods,” with about 100,000 different individual prices collected every three months. The statisticians then calculated how much had changed since the last survey three months earlier. Each year, the ABS also checks what Australians typically spend the majority of their money on, and ‘weights’ the CPI accordingly, thus reflecting where the average household spends the majority of its mon

Last weekend the European Central Bank raised eurozone interest rates by 50 basis points. It was the first rate hike since a short-term and ill-fated attempt to normalize its tariff structure in 2011, which sparked an existential crisis in the European Union that only eased when it reversed course and Mario Draghi vowed to do “whatever it takes.” ” to restore stability and keep the European Union from falling apart. The euro’s weakness relative to the US dollar exacerbated the impact of Russia’s Russia-dependent Europe energy crisis – oil and gas are priced in US dollars – while driving up import costs more generally and offsetting any benefits to exports. Even Germany, an export powerhouse, posted a trade deficit for the first time in decades. Australia’s RBA may raise interest rates by 0.5 percentage point for the third month in a row when it meets in early August. Credit: Louie Douvis The ECB, particularly sensitive to the specter of fragmentation – weaker economies and excessive

“The sector as a whole has a large liquidity buffer, most households have substantial equity in their housing assets, and lending standards have in recent years been more cautious and have built a larger buffer for rate hikes,” he said this week. Bullock explains that “many borrowers have made payments well above what was requested”, with much of the mortgage debt held by wealthy households. The RBA also takes comfort in the fact that “those with very low fixed-rate loans have time to prepare themselves for higher interest rates”. Hammered household I will reiterate that as droves of unwitting borrowers have been embarrassed by the RBA’s public commitment not to raise rates until 2024 (at the earliest) noticed that their mortgage payments will more than double in the next year or two, thanks to what that would soon be at least a 1.75 percentage point rate hike in just three months. In 2020 and 2021, the RBA relentlessly advised families and businesses to borrow as much as possible bas

The Bank of Canada’s (BoC) surprise decision to raise interest rates by 1 percentage point has shocked global markets and Canadian borrowers and raised expectations more central banks will follow with super-sized hikes. Key points: The Bank of Canada has raised interest rates by a full percentage point, while monetary authorities in Singapore and the Philippines have also tightened them sharply Former IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld worries the central bank is catching up after delaying rate hikes for too long He warned that rising interest rates too quickly around the world could trigger a major economic downturn like that seen in the 1980s The BoC raised its policy rate from 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent, the highest since 2008, in a bid to contain inflation. It is far from alone in raising interest rates quickly. Today, the Philippine central bank raised interest rates by 0.75 percentage points to 3.25 percent in an unscheduled move, while the Singaporean authorities also tighten

Central banks in New Zealand and Korea have pushed ahead with further super-sized rate hikes as they seek to tame rampant inflation. Key points: Both the RBNZ and the Bank of Korea have raised interest rates by another 50 basis points New Zealand’s benchmark interest rate is now 2.5 percent and Korea’s 2.25 percent Many economists now expect that many central banks will halt rate hikes by the end of the year Both have been at the forefront of global central bank moves to dampen inflation, lifting interest rates from pandemic lows in the second half of 2021, months ahead of most other central banks, including the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which was the first to move. enter. Possible. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) increased its benchmark overnight cash rate target from 2 to 2.5 percent today, while the Bank of Korea (BoK) also raised interest rates by 50 basis points this morning to 2.25 percent. It is the third consecutive meeting that New Zealand’s central bank has rai

In the race to get off the economic rollercoaster caused by COVID, Australia’s Pacific neighbors New Zealand are holding the ball firmly in their hands and about six steps ahead. Key points: At 6.9 percent, inflation in New Zealand is the highest in 32 years Property prices have fallen about one percent every month since banks started raising interest rates in October 2021 ANZ chief economist for NZ not worried about recession After slashing interest rates during COVID, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) was one of the first to make a reversal and began increasing the official interest rate (OCR) in October 2021. His first increase was a quarter of a percentage point, with several rate increases of the same size after that. But it actually picked up in April, up half a percentage point, followed by another double gain in May. The RBNZ is widely expected to undertake another half a percentage point rate hike later today, at midday AEST. That would take its OCR from 0.25 percent in S

Given Australia’s strong economic growth supported by high export prices, low unemployment and evidence that wages are rising from a bland base, there is an attractive case for starting to normalize cash rates towards a non-contractive or expansionary cost of capital. The problem is that although the RBA has repeatedly alleged that this “neutral” rate is at least 2.5 percent (or a chunky 175 basis points above its pre-pandemic cash rate), the reality is that the RBA has no idea where “neutral” really is. You only know once you are there. Worthless prophecy The RBA’s 2.5 percent estimate is another estimate not worth the paper it’s written for – such as its view in early March 2020 that the pandemic was no big deal and then its subsequent overly pessimistic forecast for a deep recession. Given the unmatched sensitivity of the Australian economy – dominated more than others by more variable rate debt, rather than fixed interest rates – to interest rate changes, prudent policymakers will

Are you one of the many savers who cheer when interest rates start to rise? For years, record low interest rates meant anyone with money in the bank got little or no interest. The Reserve Bank this week raised the official interest rate by 0.5 percentage point, its third increase in as many months. If you’re having trouble paying the higher interest rates on your mortgage, we’re here to help. But if you’re a saver (and don’t want to invest), here are three options for parking your money. First, what will happen to the interest rate on my savings account? Depends. The official cash rate has gone up, but that doesn’t mean everyone will earn more interest on their savings. It is up to individual lenders to decide how much of the Reserve Bank’s rate hikes to pass on to savers (and mortgage borrowers). Some lenders have already started going through the July hikes. In June, the big four banks were slow to pass rate hikes to their savings accounts and not all continued the hike in full. So i