Consumer price inflation rose by 1.8% in the June quarter, and by 6.1% on a rolling 12-month view. Whilst high, these measures were below consensus expectations. In turn, this prompted hopes that local interest rates might not need to increase as much as previously feared.
Australia has a high level of household debt, with a large- proportion of borrowers on variable-rate mortgages. Rate hikes can therefore be
particularly painful for Australians.
Policymakers therefore have a challenging task, balancing the need to dampen inflation through tighter monetary policy settings, without
strangling growth by crippling homeowners with sharply rising mortgage re- payment costs.
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised rates again on 1 November, by a further 0.25 percentage points. Official interest rates are now
2.85% and may be raised again in December.
The global economy is being shaped by conflicting triggers. These include productivity-boosting technology innovations, geopolitical tensions and the strident efforts of central banks to bring inflation under control. We examine the economic outlook and discuss the implications for your retirement savings.
With inflation coming off the boil, there was optimism that borrowing costs have peaked and could be lowered later this year. In turn, this could be beneficial for corporate earnings.
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