RBA governor issues grim warning

RBA governor Michele Bullock appears at the Standing Committee on Economics at Parliament House, Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

One of Australia’s biggest banks put in a double rate hike just hours after Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock warned of nightmare triggers for another spike in just days.

Westpac became the 13th bank to hike this month, pushing up owner-occupier fixed home loan rates by as much as 0.45 percentage points – equivalent to around double a typical rate hike.

And its chief economist Dr Lucio Ellis followed up with a huge shift in forecasts, joining NAB to name September for the next hike – and warning of a “follow-up” hike in the weeks following it.

Ms Bullock told the House of Representatives economics committee in Canberra Friday morning that inflation triggers were actively “materialising” across the economy.