Westpac has brought forward expectations for the first interest rate rise to August 2022 when it predicts the Reserve Bank will raise rates to 0.25 per cent from 0.1 per cent.
The RBA will move a second time in October, to 0.5 per cent. This timetable is later than the market, which is primed for a June increase. But Westpac has brought forward its timing from a previous forecast for February 2023.
Westpac’s forecasts are more agressive than the RBA’s particularly on underlying inflation which will be at 2.9 per cent in June, or three consecutive quarters within the target band by then.