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# The Reserve Bank of Australia raised rates to a level Australians have not seen since 2008
- URL: https://www.sharespective.com/stories/reserve-bank-australia-raised-rates-level-2026-11-04/
- Published: 2026-11-03T22:15:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T22:50:43.000Z
- Description: The Reserve Bank of Australia lifted its cash rate by a quarter point to 4.85% on Tuesday afternoon in Sydney. It is the fifth rise this year and the highest the rate has been since November 2008.
- Author: Shaun Botha
- Tags: Economy, #story, #group-economy

The Reserve Bank of Australia lifted its cash rate by a quarter point to 4.85% on Tuesday afternoon in Sydney. It is the fifth rise this year and the highest the rate has been since November 2008.

**Three of the nine board members voted against it.** Six wanted the rise and three wanted to hold at 4.60%. The board also dropped the warning it had been carrying that further rises might be needed.

Inflation is the reason given. The bank says price pressures are broad-based, and expects inflation to stay above 3% for the coming year. It does not see inflation back at the top of its 2% to 3% target band until late 2027.

![Chart: Australia's cash rate hits its highest since 2008. Australia's overnight cash rate, monthly average, December 2016 to September 2026, then the target: 4.60% in October and 4.85% after Tuesday's rise.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/02/71/0271df32-cec6-421f-9f13-b06ab90e54c1/content/images/2026/11/reserve-bank-australia-raised-rates-level-2026-11-04-chart.jpg)

This story’s chart of the day.

Borrowers pay for this within weeks. The rise takes the average variable rate on an owner-occupier home loan to about 6.74%, and it lands with house prices already falling and unemployment already rising.

Markets latched onto the missing warning. The ASX 200 closed 0.34% higher at 8,886.80, with property trusts leading, and the Australian dollar fell to a two-week low against the US dollar.

Our view 

the three dissenters matter more than the quarter point. The Aussie fell on the day its central bank raised rates, which says the market heard an ending rather than a continuation. I'd want to see December-quarter inflation before agreeing with it.

[ This story ran in Chips Answer Back Wednesday 4 November’s edition, with the market snapshot, the other two stories, the numbers and the week ahead. Read the whole edition → ](https://www.sharespective.com/sharespective-2026-11-04/)