RBA seen hiking OCR in June despite Lowe’s dovish remarks – Bloomberg survey

Markets remain unfazed by the recent dovish remarks by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Phillip Lowe, as they continue pricing interest-rate hikes sometime this year, the latest Bloomberg survey of economists showed Thursday.

Key takeaways

“Nomura Holdings Inc. and Bank of America predict the first hike will come in June, while nine others see it in August, according to a Bloomberg poll of 18 economists, who expect an initial 15 basis-point move to a 0.25% cash rate.” 

“All-but-one of the remainders surveyed forecast lift-off later in the year.”

“Most economists see the cash rate in a range of 1-1.5% by December 2023, from a current record low of 0.1%.”

“Financial markets are wagering Lowe will begin hiking in June and take the cash rate to 2% by the end of next year.”