Prime Minister Scott Morrison says international challenges are to blame for Australia's cost of living crisis, as inflation soars to a 21-year high. 9News
If Australia's Reserve Bank raises the official cash rate next week, Scott Morrison will become the first prime minister to face an interest rate rise during an election since John Howard in 2007.Inflation is now at 5.1 percent, its highest level since since 2001, when the Goods and Services Tax was introduced.Combined with export demand and higher fuel costs, food prices have been heading north at a faster rate than inflation.
"They are going to increase interest rates, they are going to do it. Whether they do it at the next meeting or the meeting straight after the election, you know, it is as much to do with politics, really, as it is to do with economics," Mr Dennis said. "So, real wages in Australia now are falling, because prices are going up so much faster than wages."
Mr Dennis said the government's stimulus policies during the COVID-19 pandemic and into the election year had led to inflation increasing at a faster than normal pace.Australia's property market is expected to hit a sharp downturn as interest rates increase.
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