RBA Scrutinizes Inflation Data After Latest Interest Rate Hike

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has hiked interest rates to a 15-year high of 4.6 per cent, but its next move remains uncertain.

RBA governor Michele Bullock acknowledged that the timing of inflation data release was unfortunate, coinciding with the bank's latest decision to hike interest rates.

Despite this, the RBA will scrutinize the upcoming inflation data, set to be released on Wednesday, which is expected to show underlying inflation holding steady at 3.6 per cent on an annualized basis.

Bullock stated that the bank's focus is on future economic conditions rather than current data, aiming to ensure financial conditions are tight enough to ease inflation pressure in the long run.

However, NAB chief economist Sally Auld believes the RBA has done enough, suggesting that officials may be content to wait and only react if more bad news comes in on the inflation front.