Will this be the last rate hike?

2/5/202629 min

The Reserve Bank has lifted rates, and if you’ve got a mortgage, you’ll feel it fast.

A typical borrower on a $600,000 loan is up around $90 a month for a single hike, and if more follow, the hit multiplies.

Is inflation really back, or is the Bank overreacting? And what would more hikes do to jobs and house prices?

Guests:

Michael Pasoe, writes for Michael West Media

Cherelle Murphy, the Oceania Chief Economist for the consultancy firm EY

Clips

First 90 seconds

Speaker 00:00
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Sherelle Murphy· Guest0:06
Global Roaming. We did try to stay weekly. The news said, "No," so five days a week it is. I'm Hamish Macdonald.
Geraldine Doogue0:14
I'm Geraldine Doogue, and now joined by esteemed colleagues Latika Bourke and Kylie Morris. Search for Global Roaming on the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Peter Martin· Host0:24
Interest rates are on the way back up. Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock says she knows many of us won't like it.
Michele Bullock· Soundbite0:32
I do understand that for mortgage holders, this isn't a great outcome. Having said that, what's also not great for them or for anyone else is if inflation remains elevated, because every time they go to the shop, every time they go to buy their groceries, if inflation is high, that's going to keep going up.
Peter Martin· Host0:49
She says she's doing it for our own good. She says, unless she does something, inflation is headed to four point two percent. But if it is, will this one, for the moment, solo rate hike be enough to dent our spending and bring inflation back down? Two more hikes would push interest rates up to their highest point in fifteen years. Surely that's not what we're in for, is it? [upbeat music] Welcome to The Economy, Stupid on ABC Radio National with me, Peter Martin, and our guest this