Australian Treasurer Chalmers: Inflation likely to get worse before it gets better in 2022

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday that he expects inflation to reach its highest level in 32 years by the end of 2022, calling for more interest rates from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) before Christmas.

Key quotes

‘We’ll see that later. Certainly, the expectation across the board is that inflation will get significantly higher than the 5.1 percent we saw in the March quarter.”

“Across the board, inflation is expected to worsen before it gets better, and then interest rates will rise again.”

“Obviously, as interest rates continue to climb, as directed by the Reserve Bank governor, it will become more difficult for Australians to pay off their mortgages.”

“So this is a very difficult time, and I welcome the candor and candor with which Governor Lowe has described the challenges ahead.

“This is already making life very difficult for Australians, and for Australian industry too, as prices for goods and services and supplies are skyrocketing.”

Market reaction

AUD/USD remains uninspired by the hawkish RBA rate hike expectations, as recession fears weigh heavily on the investors’ sentiment.

The pair is currently trading at 0.6937, down 0.47% on a daily basis.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

GBP/USD stabilizes near 1.3200 following latest rebound

GBP/USD holds steady at around 1.3200 in the European session on Friday after closing in positive territory on Thursday. Still, the cautious market mood makes it difficult for the pair to gather bullish momentum as investors remain focused on US-Iran conflict and the volaility surrounding global technology shares.

EUR/USD rebounds to 1.1400 as USD corrects lower

EUR/USD gains traction in the European session on Friday and rises to the 1.1400 area. The US Dollar (USD) struggles to find demand and helps the pair edge higher as investors keep a close eye on headlines coming out of the Middle East and the action in global technology stocks.

Gold holds above $4,000 but Fed hike bets cap the upside

Gold moves sideways in a tight channel above $4,000 after posting modest gains on Thursday. Nevertheless, the precious metal finds it difficult to gather bullish momentum as markets grow increasingly concerned about a hawkish Federal Reserve policy outlook.

Ripple price clings to $1 as long liquidations deepen bearish trend

Ripple (XRP) trades near the key psychological support level of $1 after losing more than 8% so far this week. CoinGlass liquidation data shows that over 97% XRP long positions were wiped out over the past 24 hours. In addition, derivatives metrics continue to favor the bears.

Asian stock markets plummet as Apple price hike raises inflation concerns, KOSPI dives over 8%

Asian equity markets on Friday are significantly down as price hikes announced by Apple Inc. due to memory chip shortages have prompted fears of high inflation globally and concerns on earning projections of various companies that rely on these sophisticated chips for their final products.

Regime change: Inside Kevin Warsh's first move to make the Fed unreadable on purpose

The rate did not move. That was the least interesting thing about Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the Fed. The FOMC held its benchmark at 3.50%-3.75% for the fourth straight meeting, exactly as priced, and then the new chair used his first press conference to dismantle the machinery the market has leaned on for a decade.