Australians fear recession as rate rises and petrol push up costs

Surging interest rates and petrol prices have stripped more than $1bn a month from Australian household budgets, raising fears of a recession after the Reserve Bank delivered back-to-back hikes as inflation spiked following the US war on Iran. Dougal Warby, who bought his first Brisbane apartment expecting the RBA to cut its cash rate from 4.1% to around 3.1%, said the recent moves had left him paying more than $200 extra a month.

"We’ve seen two drops, two raises, which pretty much brings us back to square one," he said. "Unsettled is the word." About 3.3m mortgage-holding households will lose hundreds from their budgets after the February and March hikes, with the two increases adding $180 to a typical $600,000 mortgage.

Australia, Brisbane

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