Tag Archives: oceania

Major bank’s bleak warning of more rate pain in matter of weeks

Two of the big four banks are now predicting a fourth consecutive rate rise to start the year as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) tries to fight rising inflation, caused in part by the war in the Middle East.

The RBA yesterday raised the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent for the third time, effectively unwinding last year's round of cuts.

Governor Michele Bullock acknowledged that Australians were "feeling poorer" but said the increase was necessary to give the central bank "space" to assess the global and domestic situation.

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Today, NAB updated its monetary policy forecast, and now predicts rates to be raised again to 4.60 per cent at the RBA's next meeting in June.

"The governor explicitly called the 'wait and watch' strategy the 'wrong term' in her press conference, and so it doesn't appear that the board thinks it has time on its side," the bank's economists Sally Auld and Gareth Spence wrote.

"This, together with the board's clear preference to prioritise the price stability aspect of its dual mandate given a broadly benign labour market forecast, suggests to us that the next rate rise will come in June."

Westpac had been predicting further rate rises before yesterday's hike, but believes it may not be until later this year.

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Workers in the Sydney CBD.

"We think the chance that they now hike rates in June is less than what we thought before, I mean, it was never a certainty but it was our base case," the bank's chief economist Luci Ellis said.

"But we still think that there are likely to be rate hikes from here, but perhaps pushed out a bit from what we previously thought."

The remaining big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ, are currently predicting a hold in June.

All four big banks passed on yesterday's rate rise onto their customers, which will take effect in the coming weeks.

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‘I won’t be forgetting him’: Victim of fatal crash in Sydney’s Royal National Park identified

A 20-year-old man who died after becoming trapped in a sinking car that had swerved into the water in Sydney's Royal National Park has been identified as a university student and budding cricketer.

The car is believed to have veered off the road before crashing into Audley Weir in the Sutherland Shire about 1.15am.

The 20-year-old driver of the blue Audi was able to free himself from the sinking car and was taken to hospital for mandatory testing.

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Car being pulled from the water.

He has since been released and was in custody at Sutherland Police Station.

The passenger became trapped in the vehicle, and his body was found, along with the submerged car, following a multi-agency search.

He has been identified as 20-year-old Muhammad Kashif, a university student studying electrical engineering and a budding cricketer from Casula.

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20-year-old Muhammad Kashif.20-year-old Muhammad Kashif.

"Everybody will be remembering him because of his energy and smile," former cricket coach Omar Khan told 9News.

"We can't forget his smiley face.

"I won't be forgetting him for the rest of my life."

Sergeant Steven Planinic said the 18-year-old driver of a second vehicle, a silver Mercedes, was speaking with police and the car had been seized.

"There was a passenger in the second vehicle, who is voluntarily at the police station providing police information about what happened," he said.

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Divers search for the car and the body of the passenger trapped inside.

Police say there does not appear to have been any contact between the two vehicles.

"Charges may be pending for both drivers," Planinic said. 

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