Interest rate warning as Aussies prepare for fifth consecutive hike
Interest rate warning as Aussies prepare for fifth consecutive hike y0jkd
Aussie homeowners are set to be slugged by the fifth interest rate rise in a row, which could cost households an extra $1000 a month.
The Reserve Bank (RBA) is set to meet this afternoon for its September rates decision, with the Board widely expected to hike interest rates by another 50 basis points.
That would take the official cash rate from 1. 85 per cent to 2. 35 per cent – which would see the average repayment on a $800, 000 mortgage soar to more than $4300 per month, an increase of $1000 from April, when the cash rate was just 0. 1 per cent.
For the past four consecutive months, Australia’s central bank has increased the interest rate after a record low throughout the Covid pandemic.
Four of those hikes, in June, July and August, have been by a whopping 50 basis points.
If the RBA passes another 0. 5 per cent increase for September — as most economists forecast — then that means Australia will be caught in the throes of its most rapid tightening cycle for more than two decades.
Now a leading economist has issued a grim warning that the RBA is “flying blind” and that rapid rate increases might not be the best long term strategy.
The Commonwealth Bank’s Head of Economics Gareth Aird warned that economic data had not yet caught up to rate hikes and that it could push Australians beyond their limits.
Aussie homeowners
are set
to
be slugged
by the fifth interest
rate
rise in a row, which could cost households an extra $1000 a month.
The Reserve Bank (RBA)
is set
to
meet
this afternoon for its September
rates
decision, with the Board
widely
expected
to hike interest
rates
by another 50 basis points.
That would take the official cash
rate
from 1. 85 per cent to 2. 35 per cent – which would
see
the average repayment on a $800, 000 mortgage soar to more than $4300 per month, an increase of $1000 from April, when the cash
rate
was
just
0. 1 per cent.
For the past four consecutive months, Australia’s central bank has increased the interest
rate
after a record low throughout the Covid pandemic.
Four of those hikes, in June, July and August, have been by a whopping 50 basis points.
If the RBA passes another 0. 5 per cent increase for September — as most economists forecast — then that means Australia will
be caught
in the throes of its most rapid tightening cycle for more than two decades.
Now
a leading economist has issued a grim warning that the RBA is “flying blind” and that rapid
rate
increases might not be the best long term strategy.
The Commonwealth Bank’s Head of Economics Gareth Aird warned that economic data had not
yet
caught up to
rate
hikes and that it could push Australians beyond their limits.
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