Top economists say there is enough data to justify lifting interest rates before the May 21 election, despite the political heat the RBA would take on as a result.
The RBA has said it wants to see wage and inflation data this month before starting to raise rates.EY chief economist Cherelle Murphy says Australia’s economic circumstances are such that it would be easy for the RBA to justify a rate rise next week.The case for a pre-election interest rate rise is strengthening, top economists say, warning there is a growing risk of higher inflation becoming entrenched if the Reserve Bank does not act soon.
Wage growth data will not be released until after the board’s next meeting on May 3, but Oliver said all the evidence suggested it was only a matter of time before wage numbers picked up as well. On Wednesday, quarterly inflation data is expected to show headline inflation has grown by 1.7 percentage points and underlying inflation by 1.1 percentage points – exceeding the RBA’s estimates and taking underlying inflation above its target range of 2 to 3 per cent.New data from accounting firm Deloitte forecasts headline inflation to be 4.4 per cent over 2022 and underlying inflation at 3.2 per cent. The unemployment rate is forecast to fall to 3.8 per cent by the June quarter.
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