tuesday sell off?, page-27

Treggs,

Yes and no.

Higher rates are normally poison for banks as they themselves are large borrowers. Australia though is probably a special case since the banks
can pretty much pass on any higher costs ... and more (see CBA today).

For retailers, a higher AUD means lower import costs, and since they don't need
to pass on the saving straight away, it also means a higher profit margin.

For exporters .... no need to discuss that.

For the consumer .... I don't think higher rates are a good thing. ( I think that is the very aim of a rate rise).

I think it is a mixed bag and I guess it is very difficult to correctly predict what 'general' impact a rate rise has.

While I do respect the RBA, I start to wonder how much of the inflation we see here is actually imported, and how much is really generated by that apparent strength of the Australian economy. I wonder whether we sit in the same boat as Brazil. Strong economy due to resources boom, but it is to a large extend cheap $US that flow into the country and push up prices.