A series of unrelated one-off events prised open the wallets of Australians in September, and may have confirmed another interest rate rise.
A rush for the new $1500 iPhone, the federal government’s cheap medicines policy and a bout of good gardening weather may have sealed the case for the Reserve Bank to take official interest rates to a 12-year high.
Sales of the iPhone 15 contributed to a larger-than-expected lift in the value of retail sales across the country in September.A series of unrelated one-off events contributed to the result that forced financial markets to sharply shorten the odds of a– which was released in the second half of the month – contributed to a 1.5 per cent jump in the value of new household goods.
While September was the strongest month since January, on a smoothed trend basis the past year has been the worst since the bureau started collating retail sales data in 1982.ANZ economists Madeline Dunk and Adelaide Timbrell said the numbers supported a rate increase by the Reserve Bank next week to take the official cash rate from 4.1 to 4.35 per cent.
“We expect spending growth will continue to remain soft throughout 2023 but are looking for a lift in 2024 as real household incomes start to grow again.”
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