A speech by the Reserve Bank governor will be scrutinised for any insights into plans for further interest rate hikes as borrowers feel the pain of 10 consecutive increases.
RBA Governor Philip Lowe will deliver a speech about inflation and recent economic data at a speech to a business conference on Wednesday.
The speech will likely touch on the softer-than-expected labour market, wage and economic growth data released in the past few weeks, as well as the trajectory for inflation now that it's likely past its peak.
The speech at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney follows the Reserve Bank delivering the 10th interest rate hike in a row on Tuesday afternoon.
The 25-basis-point hike brought the cash rate to 3.6 per cent, the highest level in more than a decade.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government was pulling the levers available to it - "a combination of relief, repair and restraint" - to help the RBA with its difficult job of taming inflation.
He told the summit on Tuesday night that higher interest rates were putting pressure on borrowers and businesses.
"Already, Australian households spent $20 billion on mortgage interest payments in the last quarter, compared to $11 billion in the same period the year before," he said.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley urged the government to bring spending under control in order to lessen the impact of inflation.
"It's simple economics, if the government doesn't get fiscal policy right, that makes inflation go up, that makes inflation higher than they need to," she told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
"The Reserve Bank is doing its job, the government is not ... this means an extra $20,000 a year that a typical Australian family will now have to find on their mortgage, this is incredibly difficult for families right now."
RateCity analysis shows the average owner-occupier with a $500,000 loan and 25 years remaining will see their monthly repayments rise by another $77 if banks pass the rate hike on in full.
The average borrower's monthly repayments are up nearly $1000 since April 2022, when the rate rises began.
RateCity research director Sally Tindall said mortgage rates starting with a "four" were likely to disappear after this rate rise.
"After this latest hike washes through, a small handful of lenders are likely to hold on to rates just under five per cent, but we're likely to be able to count these loans on two hands," she said.
Ms Tindall urged mortgage holders to refinance to secure a better deal.
© AAP 2023