>
Moment Sunrise Host Natalie Barr Calls on Reserve Bank Chief as He Prepares to Raise Interest Rates for the EIGHTH Consecutive Month
- The Reserve Bank leaned to raise interest rates Tuesday for the eighth straight month
- Economists expect a 0.25 percentage point rise at 2:30pm Sydney time
- Sunrise host Natalie Barr called RBA boss Dr. Philip Lowe on Tuesday
- She said she had previously told Australian borrowers that interest rates would not increase until 2024.
Natalie Barr has taken aim at the head of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) as interest rates are set to rise for the eighth time this year.
Reserve Bank Governor Dr. Philip Lowe is expected to raise the cash rate another 0.25 percentage point on Tuesday, taking it to a 10-year high of 3.1 percent.
Rates have gone up every month since May, and the Sunrise host called Dr. Lowe after he promised they wouldn’t go up until 2024.
‘We heard the governor of the reserve bank [Philip Lowe] say “I’m sorry if you heard us when we said don’t worry, they won’t go up for a few years,” he said Tuesday morning.
Barr’s guest, Dr. Christian Baylis of Fortlake Asset Management, gave another gloomy prediction, saying interest rates will only rise further after Christmas.
“I don’t think there will be too many Christmas presents from the RBA today,” he said.
“Dr. Lowe is certainly in Kris Kringle’s naughty corner right now, he’s certainly not getting a lot of love from the community.
“Ultimately, when you have a world of increased uncertainty, you’re coming out of a one-in-100-year pandemic, the last thing you want to do is sell false interest rate hopes.
‘That’s ultimately how it came about. It’s about communication, you’re betting on telling people the truth and letting them know that it’s an uncertain world. I think that’s where they fell short.
Natalie Barr has taken aim at the RBA chief as interest rates are set to rise for the eighth time this year.
Barr then asked Mr. Baylis if he thought Dr. Lowe “felt bad” about the false promise and therefore was not raising interest rates any higher than they were, to which the expert agreed. agreement.
“Those kinds of things definitely weigh on the psyche of the board and on Dr. Lowe himself,” he said.
Baylis warned that Australians could expect a “creepy and gloomy Christmas” this year as workers’ disposable incomes do not rise, as do inflation and interest rates rise.
Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said the Reserve Bank is likely to raise rates by another 0.25 percentage point on Tuesday to tackle the worst inflation in 32 years.
“A further tightening of 25 basis points at the December meeting was likely firmly on the board’s future agenda when it last met on November 1,” he said.
The rate increase would mean that a borrower with an average mortgage of $600,000 would soon see their monthly payments increase by another $91 to $3,236.
Reserve Bank Governor Dr. Philip Lowe is expected to raise the cash rate another 0.25 percent on Tuesday, taking it to a 10-year high of 3.1 percent.