Markets tip fifth rate rise of 2026 as Albanese heads overseas
Markets are tipping the Reserve Bank of Australia to lift its cash rate, the central bank's benchmark interest rate, to 4.85 per cent in its decision on Tuesday. The Guardian reported that the move would be the fifth rate rise this year, and would take rates to their highest level in 18 years.
The decision lands while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is overseas. He is attending the Commonwealth heads of government meeting, known as CHOGM, in Antigua and Barbuda from Saturday.
The cash rate currently stands at 4.6 per cent, its highest level in 15 years, according to the Guardian's report from October 29. The Reserve Bank board lifted the rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.6 per cent in late September, its media release said. Australia has had four rate rises so far in 2026.
Inflation is part of the reason. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the consumer price index, the main measure of how fast prices are rising, climbed 4.3 per cent in the 12 months to September. That was up from 4.0 per cent in the 12 months to August.
Albanese has moved to put some distance between Labor and the Reserve Bank ahead of the expected rise. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that he called the rate hikes a "blunt instrument" that hurts people with mortgages.
At CHOGM, Albanese said the meeting offers an opportunity to work with partners on climate change, the preservation of oceans, trade and investment, and the rise of artificial intelligence. He was scheduled to hold talks there with King Charles III, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
