RBA announces rate hike to 1.35%

Australia announced an interest rate hike by half a percentage point after an interest rate meeting on Tuesday, pushing its official interest rate to 1.35%. In his statement, RBA Governor Lowe pointed out that Australia's unemployment rate is now at a 50-year low of 3.9%, coupled with strong household consumption, he is confident that the local economy will still be able to continue raising interest rates. At the same time, Lowe has to admit that raising interest rates will put pressure on households with mortgages, but he thinks it is within the acceptable range. So Lowe warned that there will be more rate hikes in the coming months to push Australian rates back to normal levels. Reflected from the price changes in the interest rate futures market, the market estimates that the RBA will increase the probability of half a percentage point for the consensus on the interest rate meeting on August 2.