Interest rates are rising. The Australian government 10-year bond has more than doubled from 1.2% last August to the current 3%. However, for context, this directional change comes a full forty years after rates peaked at 16.4% in early 1982. Investment markets have enjoyed the tailwind of generally falling rates for a long time, and many participants in the world financial markets have never experienced rising rates in their entire investing career.

Regrettably, the COVID pandemic took a turn for the worse in Australia, with higher community transmission and consequential societal and business restrictions and lockdowns. This has caused some meaningful reduction in present economic activity, though a clearer roadmap to reopening and recovery is now apparent, likely leading to a sharp rebound in activity in 2022.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) conducts monetary policy meetings on the first Tuesday of each month. The pronouncements and policy settings from these meetings have become increasingly important due to the RBA’s particularly aggressive monetary actions and interest rate control interventions.