'Fuel added to the fire': Aussies braced for cost-of-living triple whammy

Australian mortgage holders are being told to brace for an interest rate rise, with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) looking to keep on top of rising inflation.

That could mean a triple whammy for Aussies already hurting – at the bowser, at the checkout and on the mortgage.

The rising cost of oil worldwide is having a big impact on the price of petrol in Australia, which in turn is fuelling inflation.

YOUR SAY: 'We're already cutting back': Anxiety ahead of today's interest rate hike

It caused the RBA to raise rates last month, and the experts are predicting a similar story this afternoon.

Economists all expect Australia's cash rate will go from 3.85 per cent to 4.1 per cent.

While the markets were slower to predict an interest rate rise, the ballooning price of oil and global instability caused by the war in the Middle East have made the outcome almost inevitable.

After the February rise, the markets saw only a 10 per cent chance of a follow-up hike in March. Now, it sees about a 64 per cent chance.

Core inflation has sat at around 3.4 per cent annually, but rose out of the RBA's target range at the back end of last year.

The current geopolitical situation has only added fuel to the inflation and interest rates fire.

Inflation had already been running too hot, and a significant rise in oil prices will flow through to that data in fuel costs.

Because the RBA is responsible for getting inflation under control, it's expected to act quickly.

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