Westpac Sees RBA Rate Hike in August if Oil Price Pullback Is Slow

Westpac Banking Corp. said Middle East conflict risks and oil prices remained critical after the Reserve Bank of Australia recently warned that the policy rate could still rise further. According to Jin10, Westpac’s head of Australian macro forecasting, Matthew Hassan, said the normalization of oil and gas supply would be a “slow and bumpy process.” Hassan said concerns that domestic inflation would stay elevated would force the RBA to raise interest rates again in August. He added that the decision would be difficult for the board given that economic growth was already weak.