On a slippery slope

Is it just me, or does it feel like the world is slightly on fire at the moment?

- By Jamie Williamson

Then again, that’s more or less been the feeling for the past 12 months or so.In Australia, we’ve been largely unscathed by much of mess that’s been emanating from the US, other than the Liberation Day tariffs that were imposed on us and everyone else — and even they have been proven to have hurt the American people the worst, copping 94% of the bill.

But will we still be able to say the same now that the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran has kicked off?

Speaking at the recent AFR Business Summit, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock said, “every meeting is live.” Prior to US strikes on Iran, the market was pretty well in agreement that the next interest rate hike would come in May. Now, based on Bullock’s comments, it’s possible there’s a hike in the cards this month as well.