Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Australia's Central Bank Raises Interest Rates by Most in 22 years


Wed 08 Jun 2022 | 01:00 AM
Taarek Refaat

The Reserve Bank of Australia announced, during Tuesday's meeting, that it will raise interest rates at the largest pace since February 2000, in a move aimed at curbing inflation before it gets out of control.

The central bank raised the interest rate by 50 basis points to 0.85%, exceeding expectations of only 25 to 40 basis points, and this is the second rate hike in the past five weeks.

"Inflation in Australia has increased significantly compared to most other developed economies, and is expected to rise further in the coming months due to higher electricity and gas prices and recent increases in gasoline prices," RBA Governor Philip Lowe said in a statement.

Lowe expected the bank to take further steps to normalize monetary policy in Australia in the coming months, noting that the interest level is still very low.