It’s been money, money, money in the headlines over the past 48 hours, as experts broke down what the 2023-24 Federal Budget means for Aussies far and wide… And a big question that’s come up is what the new policy announcements mean for inflation and interest rates. Some economists don’t believe the budget will affect the Reserve Bank’s decision to increase the cash rate or not. Westpac senior economist Bill Evans said he doesn’t “think there’s anything in this budget that will make them go, ‘we have to raise rates’.” But others, like Goldman Sachs chief economist Andrew Boak, said the $20.6 billion net spending outlined in the budget could increase the risk of more interest rate hikes. That’s a risk that Treasurer Jim Chalmers was keen to talk down yesterday, telling the National Press Club that he’s “supremely confident” the budget “will take some of these cost-of-living pressures off without adding to inflation”.

Need a breakdown of what went down in Tuesday’s Budget? Our latest Squiz Shortcut has you sorted…