Overview
- Testifying in the Senate, the governor defended recent decisions, rejected a senator’s claim she was “gaslighting” Australians and restated that the bank does not opine on elected governments’ spending choices.
- The RBA lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.85% last week, the first increase in more than two years, with major banks passing the rise to mortgage customers.
- Michele Bullock said further tightening is not pre‑committed and bringing inflation down “might or might not” require more hikes, with policy remaining data‑dependent.
- Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser said inflation is too high and the RBA will do “whatever is necessary” to return it to target, pointing to strong private demand, tight labour conditions and domestic supply constraints.
- Core inflation rose to 3.4% in the fourth quarter and the bank projects a peak near 3.7% this year, while market pricing implies about a 75% chance of rates reaching 4.10% at the May meeting.