SYDNEY, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Australia's central bank on Tuesday raised interest rates to a 15-year-high, citing inflation driven by the conflict in the Middle East.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said its Monetary Policy Board voted unanimously to lift the cash rate target from 4.35 percent to 4.60 percent, the highest figure since November 2011.
It marks the fourth rate rise delivered by the RBA so far in 2026 after three previous increases of 0.25 percentage points each in February, March and May.
Economists and Australia's major banks had unanimously predicted the decision to raise the cash rate target on Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Board said in its decision statement that the conflict in the Middle East has broadened, causing global energy prices to rise much higher than assumed when the board decided to keep interest rates on hold in August.
"The Middle East conflict remains unresolved, and there are scenarios where inflation is higher and activity lower than forecast. Global oil supply disruptions are maintaining upward pressure on global and domestic energy prices and inflation," it said.
Speaking earlier on Tuesday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that the conflict in the Middle East has been "absolutely disastrous" from a cost-of-living and economic perspective.
"We're seeing inflation going up around the world; we're seeing interest rates going up around the world. And unfortunately, Australia's not immune from the same pressures," he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.
The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that annual inflation fell from 3.8 percent in June to 3.5 percent in July.
The trimmed mean, the measure of underlying inflation preferred by the RBA, remained steady at 3.6 percent. The RBA targets annual inflation of 2-3 percent.
The ABS will release inflation data for August on Wednesday, and the Monetary Policy Board will next meet at the start of November. ■