PODCAST: Evans on why the RBA will hike rates in 2023

Michael Bennet
06:19pm June 23 2021

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans expects the RBA to lift the cash rate in 2023. (Getty)

Late last week, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans revised his call for the Reserve Bank’s cash rate, tipping hikes to begin in 2023 after the “stunning” fall in unemployment and signals from the US Federal Reserve that its policy normalisation will be brought forward.

He expects the RBA to begin with a 15 basis points increase in the first quarter of 2023, followed up by a 25 basis point hike in both the second and fourth quarters of that year, taking the cash rate to 75 basis – “in effect reversing the ‘emergency’ rate cuts in 2020” as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on economies around the world. 
 


“The recovery is now clearly into a self-sustaining upswing and the need for emergency stimulus policies has eased significantly,” he wrote, just days after it was revealed the jobless rate had fallen to 5.1 per cent, below pre-COVID levels. 

The move comes despite the RBA repeatedly suggesting it would not hike rates until 2024 “at the earliest”, once the labour market is sufficiently tight to be generating “materially higher” wages growth and inflation is sustainably within its 2-3 per cent target range. 
 

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans discusses his new RBA cash rate call. (Josh Wall)

However, Mr Evans, who has correctly forecast several monetary policy cycles in his long career, said the RBA may have some flexibility around its condition that wages growth will need to be sustainably above 3 per cent. 

“The key conditions for raising rates are ‘actual inflation is sustainably within the 2-3 per cent target range’ and ‘return to full employment’ both of which we expect to be met by end 2022,” he said. 


The information in this article is general information only, it does not constitute any recommendation or advice; it has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs and you should consider its appropriateness with regard to these factors before acting on it. Any taxation position described is a general statement and should only be used as a guide. It does not constitute tax advice and is based on current tax laws and our interpretation. Your individual situation may differ and you should seek independent professional tax advice. You should also consider obtaining personalised advice from a professional financial adviser before making any financial decisions in relation to the matters discussed.
 

Michael Bennet

Michael Bennet was inaugural Editor of Westpac Wire from June 2017 to December 2021. He joined Westpac after more than 12 years in journalism, most recently at The Australian as the national newspaper’s banking reporter based in Sydney. Michael has worked at various News Corp publications and other media companies covering industries including financial services, resources, industrials, markets and economics. He is originally from Perth, Western Australia, where he also wrote across magazines covering the arts with a focus on music.

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