Westpac’s CEO Peter King has warned that interest rates for borrowers could remain higher for longer.
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s cash rate is already at a 12-year high of 4.35 percent.
But new inflation data for the March quarter has prompted economists to reconsider the prospect of rate cuts in 2024.
“While inflation has fallen, it is proving difficult globally and here in Australia to get it within the target range,” he said on Monday.
“It is likely that interest rates will remain higher for longer.”
Westpac’s CEO Peter King has warned that interest rates for borrowers could remain higher for longer
Mr King made the prediction as Westpac revealed its half-year net profit of $3.342 billion for the first half of 2023-2024 was 16 percent weaker than the corresponding six-month period in 2023-2023.
Westpac officially predicts a rate cut in November, rather than an easing in September.
Chief economist Luci Ellis, a former assistant governor of the Reserve Bank, changed Westpac’s forecast after new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, released on April 24, showed underlying inflation rates in the year to March were still were above 4 percent – or at a level well above that. the RBA’s 2 to 3 percent target.