Rates nightmare: Experts tip double RBA hike before Christmas

RBA governor Michele Bullock runs the risk of losing credibility if they do not act on inflation. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short A bombshell survey reveals nearly half of the nation’s leading economists warn a brutal double rate hike will smash households before Christmas. Fresh figures released Friday by comparison site Finder show a crushing 90 per cent of finance experts and economists predict the Reserve Bank will vote to lift the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.6 per cent at its crucial board meeting that’s now under than 90 hours away. Shockingly, nearly half of the expert panel now tip a second follow-up rate hike before the end of the year, which would drive the cash rate to a punishing 4.85 per cent – the highest level since the peak of the 2008 global financial crisis. 18 lenders have already hiked interest rates so far this month. Picture: Brendan Radke The last RBA board meeting left the cash rate unchanged in August, but things have escalated dramatically since then, with the market now pricing in a double rate hike by early next year too – with a 90 per cent expectation of an increase to 4.6 per cent come Tuesday. This comes as Canstar warned 18 lenders ha...