RBA interest rates: governor Michele Bullock explains decision to lift cash rate to 4.85%

The Reserve Bank of Australia has hiked interest rates for the fifth time this year, from 4.6% to 4.85%, in a bid to regain control of surging inflation amid the ongoing global oil shock triggered by the war in the Middle East. Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube and hit the bell to see new videos ► http://bit.ly/gdnaustraliasubs The RBA’s cash rate has now reached its highest level since 2008. Back-to-back hikes will heap more pain on more than 3.3m households with home loans and turn the screws on a federal government under pressure for its economic management RBA interest rates live updates ► https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/nov/03/rba-interest-rates-meeting-today-latest-news-australia-reserve-bank-cash-rate-announcement-decision-live-updates?CMP=gdnaus_yt Reserve Bank hikes cash rate for fifth time this year in blow to mortgage holders ► https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/nov/03/rba-interest-rates-decision-cash-rate-november-reserve-bank-australia?CMP=gdnaus_yt Support Guardian Australia ► https://support.theguardian.com/contribute?CMP=gdnaus_yt Sign up to Guardian Australia's free daily newsletters, the Morning Mail and Politics, really ► https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=gdnaus_yt Find or follow Guardian Australia: Website ► https://theguardian.com/au?CMP=gdnaus_yt Google News ► https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMNTrogswl_a6Aw Instagram ► https://instagram.com/guardianaustralia TikTok ► https://tiktok.com/@guardianaustralia LinkedIn ► https://linkedin.com/company/guardianaustralia Threads ► https://www.threads.net/@guardianaustralia WhatsApp Channels ► https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaBW8Bn6hENlReOC9j0l Facebook ► https://facebook.com/theguardianaustralia Newsletters ► https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=gdnaus_yt Subscribe to the Guardian's other YouTube channels: The Guardian ► https://bit.ly/guardiannewssubs Guardian News ► https://bit.ly/guardiannewssubs Guardian Football ► https://bit.ly/gdnfootballsubs Guardian Sport ► https://bit.ly/gdnsportsubs Guardian Live ► https://bit.ly/guardianlivesubs #rba #reservebank #interestrates