RBA Officials Face Spotlight Ahead of Potential Rate Hike Decision

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) officials are set to take center stage in the coming days, with their comments closely watched for signs of potential interest rate hikes. On Monday, RBA assistant governor Sarah Hunter will participate in a fireside chat at a Regional Australia Institute summit in Canberra.

Hunter's remarks will be followed by those of RBA governor Michele Bullock on Friday, when she appears before a parliamentary committee. Both officials are expected to reiterate the bank's stance that inflation is too high and leave the door open for further interest rate hikes.

This comes after RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser sent bond markets into a spin with his hawkish comments last week, which saw markets price in a four-in-five chance of a 25 basis point rate hike on September 29. However, Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis still thinks the RBA is more likely to hike in November than September.

Ellis noted that while July's monthly inflation data surprised strongly to the upside, the board tends to prefer to move after less volatile quarterly inflation data.