Half Of Households Expect A September Rate Hike

The Australian is reporting that a new SECNewgate Research Mood of the Nation poll is showing that half of those surveyed expect the RBA to hike at its September 5 meeting. Only 26% expect rates to be lower in a year and 47% in three years. Cost of living remains the main concern of those surveyed but is starting to ease.

• People remained concerned about economic developments but that concern is easing. Unprompted mentions of grocery prices in the survey remain very high at 84% but were down 6pp from June. 57% believe that Australia is “heading in the wrong direction” down from 61% in June and 44% expect the economy to deteriorate in a year down from 55%.
• Respondents didn’t believe the government was responding effectively enough to cost-of-living pressures and as a result the positive rating of the federal government is down 10pp since April to 36%. East coast state governments saw their performance downgraded 7-8pp.