Senior Reserve Bank of Australia officials are due to speak publicly as markets assess the likelihood of another interest rate hike later this month.
The RBA’s chief economist, Sarah Hunter, will take part in a fireside chat at a Regional Australia Institute summit in Canberra on Monday. Governor Michele Bullock is scheduled to appear before a parliamentary committee on Friday.
Their comments will be closely watched after recent statements from bank officials stressed that inflation remained too high and kept open the possibility of further increases. The RBA has already raised rates three times in 2026.
Dr Hunter and deputy governor Andrew Hauser unsettled bond markets with separate hawkish appearances last week. Financial markets are now putting the probability of a 25 basis point increase on September 29 at about four in five.
Westpac’s economics team became the last of the country’s four major banks to abandon its forecast that rates would remain unchanged after Mr Hauser appeared on ABC’s 7.30 programme.
However, Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis believes a November increase is still more likely than a move in September. She said the board generally preferred to act after receiving less volatile quarterly inflation figures.
“Overreacting to a noisy monthly print is something they have previously said they would not do,” Dr Ellis said.
She added that if internal members believed action was more urgent, they could secure enough votes on the Monetary Policy Board to deliver an increase in September.
Expectations of higher interest rates have also strengthened among Wall Street investors after consumer price data reinforced concerns about inflation in the United States. The S&P 500 closed Friday 0.86 per cent higher at 7,656.98, while the Nasdaq rose 0.96 per cent to 26,333.04 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.98 per cent to 52,573.29.
Australian share futures were up 18 points, or 0.20 per cent, at 16,526. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 78.2 points, or 0.89 per cent, on Friday to 8,741.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 88.1 points, or 0.98 per cent, to 8,920.2.
