Australia's central bank hikes interest rates, flags more to come

Record ID: 1671194

  • Title: Australia's central bank hikes interest rates, flags more to come
  • Date: 3rd May 2022
  • Summary: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (MAY 3, 2022) (REUTERS) PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT, CAROLE EDMUND, SAYING: "Look I think it will be difficult for people with those really, really high mortgages. People have gone into debt up to their ears. It's going to be really, really tough for people." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOLICITOR, DAVID WONG, SAYING: "Of course, it's going to affect my vote. I mean, it's a cost of living thing. If they are really good economic managers, then surely they would've planned for this a bit more and made it a bit easier for us." PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH MARTIN PLACE AUSTRALIAN FLAG FLYING
  • Embargoed: 17th May 2022 08:37
  • Keywords: Australia Interest rates Philip Lowe Reserve Bank of Australia election
  • Location: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
  • City: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Australia,Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA005538903052022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Australia's central bank on Tuesday (May 3) raised its main cash rate by a surprisingly large 25 basis points to 0.35%, its first hike in more than a decade, and flagged more to come as it runs down the curtain on pandemic stimulus.
    The news will not be welcome to Prime Minister Scott Morrison as he fights a tough election campaign that, going by opinion polls, could see him turfed out of office on May 21.
    Wrapping up its May policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said it was the right time to begin withdrawing extraordinary monetary support as inflation had picked up significantly and the economy was near full employment. The policy shift came after consumer price inflation spiked to a 20-year peak of 5.1% in the first quarter, led by costs for petrol, housing, food, and education.
    The size of the move helped lift the local dollar up 1% to $0.7116 AUD=D3 as a majority of analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a rise to only 0.25%.
    (Production: James Redmayne, Jill Gralow)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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