The RBA demonstrated some admirable independence yesterday as it hiked interest rates by a moderate 0.25% ignoring hawkish rhetoric from other major central banks in the process, a great call in our opinion! With a large proportion of Australian mortgages going to be linked to the Official Cash Rate by the end of next year there’s undoubtedly going to be a significant headwind for the Australian consumer in the not too distant future, we believe this lag effect is likely to have played a significant role in the decision from Philip Lowe et al.