After another cash rate hold in May, home owners will be holding out hope for an interest rate cut later this year.
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Not all economists agree on when the Reserve Bank will begin to slash the cash rate, but most are confident the rate will stay at 4.35 per cent for the near future.
Many have also adjusted their expectations after higher-than-expected inflation data was released in April.
Devika Shivadekar, economist at assurance, tax and consulting firm RSM Australia, remained confident there would be a rate cut by the end of 2024.
"My base case is for a rate cut to come in November this year," she said.
A cash rate hike was unlikely in Ms Shivadekar's view, but she said it all depended on how the labour market performed.
She said of the Reserve Bank's two mandates - bring down inflation and achieve full employment - the central bank would now be focusing on the latter.
"We need the labour market to really loosen up now," she said.
"If the labour market tightness continues, I think there is a potential that the RBA might need to hike one more time.
"But I really don't see that happening because everything takes time, we've had a big chunk of people enter Australia who are gradually going to be absorbed in the labour force.
"Things take time, everything operates with a lag. So let's wait for the data to really unfold more."
Deloitte Access Economics partner Stephen Smith agreed a cash rate cut was on the cards for the end of the year.
He said inflation had been led by supply-side factors, such as housing, energy and fuel costs, which were not influenced by rate hikes. Meanwhile retail sales growth was at a record low and showed "no signs of suddenly roaring back to life", he said.
"This is not a sign of an economy that needs another rate hike," Mr Smith said.
"We expect inflation will decelerate faster than the official estimates, which we still predict will prompt the RBA to cut rates in November."
Rate cuts a 'distant reality'
With just five more Reserve Bank board meetings scheduled for the year, not all economists are so certain of a rate cut in 2024.
Nerida Conisbee, chief economist at Ray White Group, said inflation was not dropping fast enough to warrant a rate cut in the near future.
"The March inflation figures changed the outlook for interest rates dramatically," she said.
While annual inflation was falling, quarterly inflation rose from 0.6 per cent in the three months to December, to 1 per cent in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported.
Prior to the release of the inflation figures, markets were pricing in a cash rate cut for October 2024, Ms Conisbee said.
Within a day, that prediction had moved to April 2025, she said.
"Looking at data at this exact point in time suggests no cut in 2024," Ms Conisbee said.
EY chief economist Cherelle Murphy said rate cuts were "likely a distant reality".
"Our central expectation remains that the Reserve Bank will be willing to hold the cash rate at 4.35 per cent for some time," she said.
Another rate rise can't be ruled out
Ms Murphy said the recent inflation data was testing the Reserve Bank's resolve.
"If pushed too far, a rate hike would be needed to slow the economy further," she said.
The next cash rate decision will be made in mid-June.
While many economists believe a cash rate hike is unlikely, the Reserve Bank has not ruled it out.
Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock said the board believed rates were at the right level to bring inflation down to target.
But if inflation remained persistent, the board would raise interest rates again.
"We don't think we necessarily have to tighten again, but we can't rule it out," she said.
"If we have to, we will."