The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced a 10th consecutive interest rate hike, taking the official cash rate to the highest level in 11 years. However, there are signs that the current monetary tightening cycle may end soon as the risk of a recession emerges. On March 7, the RBA board decided to lift…

The Reserve Bank considered a larger 50 basis point interest rate hike in February to counter persistent inflation; it’s been revealed. The central bank’s board deliberated over the move as well as a 25-point increase to the official cash rate earlier in the month but ultimately landed on the smaller rise. Leaving the rate unchanged…

Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe was at pains to emphasise the need to relax business regulation and open up the economy as the way to deal with soaring inflation during a recent Senate Estimates hearing. “If there is greater competition, more investment, more freedom on the supply side of the economy, then the price pressures…

The government has defended Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe’s decision to give a private briefing to a group of bankers on interest rate hikes before making public statements. Lowe will be questioned about the hikes to the cash rate at a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday as pressure mounts regarding his future in the top…

Australian consumers may soon see a drop in the prices of daily necessities as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) says inflation is likely to ease throughout 2023. However, the shadow of mortgage hikes still hovers around for borrowers. During a parliamentary hearing on living cost pressures, RBA head of economic analysis Marion Kohler acknowledged…

Australia’s job market outperformed other G7 countries in the latter half of 2022 despite facing an aggressive interest rate hike cycle and softening economic conditions. A new Treasury analysis of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) workforce data reveals that 234,000 jobs were added to the Australian economy between May and November 2022, representing a…

Australia is witnessing the refinancing boom expand further as more and more homeowners switch lenders to cope with the central bank’s current interest rate hike cycle. The total value of owner-occupier refinancing activities across the country broke an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) record when it jumped 9.1 percent to $13.4 billion (US$9.32 billion) in November…

The Reserve Bank’s aggressive rate-hiking cycle has triggered the housing market’s biggest decline in more than four decades. The 8.4 percent drop between May 2022 and January 2023 is the deepest peak-to-trough fall on CoreLogic’s records, which go back to 1980. It surpasses the previous record-breaking slide between 2017 and 2019, as well as the…

Lending and mortgage experts have warned Australian borrowers to prepare for steeper interest rate hikes, and more mortgage stress in 2023 as many homeowners have shown signs of struggling. Australian mortgagors had a tough year in 2022 as they witnessed the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lifting the official cash rate from the historic low…

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has stated it will put a range of interest rate decisions on the table in 2023 while warning Australians of more potential rate hikes as the economic outlook remains uncertain. The newly released RBA’s meeting minutes revealed that the central bank put forward three interest rate options for December:…