Mortgage repayments surge as RBA governor refuses to rule out recession | ABC NEWS

The Reserve Bank has lifted the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points as the war in the Middle East sends oil, gas, and petrol prices soaring. Its the second rate hike from the RBA in two months with inflationary pressures showing no signs of easing. This takes Australia's benchmark borrowing cost up to 4.1 per cent, its highest level since early 2025. RBA governor Michele Bullock says: "We don't want to have a recession, but if it's hard to get inflation down, then, you know, we're going to have to deal with that possibly". The RBA board struggled with the decision - it was split five votes to four. Betashares chief economist David Bassanese said he thought the RBA officials themselves did feel the strong need to rasie rates but probably got pushback from independent board members.

Economists at all four major banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ and NAB are expecting the RBA to follow up with a third consecutive rate rise in May. Canstar's Sally Tindall says now is a good time for many borrowers to call their bank -- ask for a lower rate -- or look for a better home loan elsewhere. She said the average owner-occupied variable rate will be sitting just above 6 per cent. But Canstar estimates a competitive rate would be about 5.75% or below.

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Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-17/rba-lifts-interest-rates-for-second-time-in-2026/106463146

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