The benchmark interest rate in Australia was last recorded at 3.85 percent. This dataset provides - Australia Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) cash rate target in-part determines interest rates on financial products.

A comparison of the Australian target cash rate and the overnight interbank lending rate shows that, after around a decade of being identical, the economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to the actual overnight lending rate being lower than the Reserve Bank of Australia's target rate. This means that banks are lending to each other at lower rates than the "official" interest rate. One reason for this is the that the Reserve bank has made money available to banks in several new ways over this period (such as repo agreements where banks can pledge assets for short term funds), increasing liquidity in the banking system. As of June 2025, the overnight interbank cash rate and the target cash rate stood at **** and **** percent, respectively.

On November 8, 2023, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increased the interest rate by **** percentage points, bringing the interest rate to **** percent. This was the thirteenth interest rate increase by the RBA since November 4, 2020, which saw the interest rate drop to a record *** percent.

Key information about Australia Long Term Interest Rate

• Australia Government Bond Yield: Australian Government: 10 Years was reported at 4.42 % pa in Feb 2025, compared with 4.48 % pa in the previous month.
• Australia Long Term Interest Rate data is updated monthly, available from Jul 1969 to Feb 2025.
• The data reached an all-time high of 16.50 % pa in Aug 1982 and a record low of 0.80 % pa in Oct 2020.
• Long Term Interest Rate is reported by reported by Reserve Bank of Australia.

• In the latest reports, Australia Short Term Interest Rate: Month End: Bank Acceptance Bills Rates: 90 days was reported at 4.12 % pa in Feb 2025.
• The cash rate (Policy Rate: Month End: Cash Target Rate) was set at 4.10 % pa in Feb 2025.
• Australia Exchange Rate against USD averaged 1.49 (USD/AUD) in Jun 2023.

The benchmark interest rate in New Zealand was last recorded at 3.25 percent. This dataset provides - New Zealand Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In May 2025, global inflation rates and central bank interest rates showed significant variation across major economies. Most economies initiated interest rate cuts from mid-2024 due to declining inflationary pressures. The U.S., UK, and EU central banks followed a consistent pattern of regular rate reductions throughout late 2024. In early 2025, Russia maintained the highest interest rate at 20 percent, while Japan retained the lowest at 0.5 percent. Varied inflation rates across major economies The inflation landscape varies considerably among major economies. China had the lowest inflation rate at -0.1 percent in May 2025. In contrast, Russia maintained a high inflation rate of 9.9 percent. These figures align with broader trends observed in early 2025, where China had the lowest inflation rate among major developed and emerging economies, while Russia's rate remained the highest. Central bank responses and economic indicators Central banks globally implemented aggressive rate hikes throughout 2022-23 to combat inflation. The European Central Bank exemplified this trend, raising rates from 0 percent in January 2022 to 4.5 percent by September 2023. A coordinated shift among major central banks began in mid-2024, with the ECB, Bank of England, and Federal Reserve initiating rate cuts, with forecasts suggesting further cuts through 2025 and 2026.

The real interest rate in Australia decreased by *** percentage points (-***** percent) in 2019 in comparison to the previous year. This was a significant decrease in the real interest rate. Real interest rate is the adjusted lending interest rate to remove the effects of inflation, as measured by the GDP deflator (implicit price deflator).Find more statistics on other topics about Australia with key insights such as deposit interest rate, domestic credit to the private sector as a share of GDP, and market capitalization of listed domestic companies as a share of GDP.

The Foreign Banks industry includes domestic subsidiaries of foreign banks and branches of foreign banks, which have grown over the past few years as soaring interest rates contributed to a sharp revenue rise. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained a relatively low cash rate over the past decade – especially in response to the pandemic – to stimulate economic activity. The low cash rate environment hampered foreign banks' revenue in the three years through 2021-22. In May 2022, this all changed when inflation rose quickly, leading to the fastest and largest hike cycle on record. These trends ensured a revenue explosion in the two years through 2023-24, especially after a decade of cheap money drove extensive private and corporate borrowing in Australia. Overall, industry revenue is expected to grow at an annualised 11.8% over the five years through 2024-25, to $45.6 billion. This includes an anticipated decline of 8.8% in 2024-25 as the RBA cut rates. Foreign banks are typically less exposed than domestic banks to the residential lending market and depend more on commercial lending because of the high number of foreign bank branches, with the noted exception of HSBC Bank, which has substantially grown its mortgage books over the past few years. Meanwhile, foreign bank branches increasingly lent to corporate clients despite a highly competitive market. These long-term trends allowed industry profit margins to heighten. Yet, as interest rates surged in 2022, so did foreign banks’ funding expenses. This weighed on profit’s proportion of revenue despite net earnings growth. Australian foreign banks’ outlook is more mixed over the coming years as interest rates gradually drop. Foreign banks are set to shift their focus towards ESG offerings like responsible lending, to satisfy consumer demand for green loans. In response to the fierce competition from lenders, including non-banks and fintech firms, foreign banks are set to splurge on technology to remain relevant. Funding costs will start easing as interest rates decline, causing profit margins to rebound. Overall, revenue is forecast to fall at an annualised 3.8% over the five years through 2029-30, to $37.8 billion.

The Credit Card Issuance industry has contracted as the number of cards issued and balances accruing interest have fallen. Issuers have faced significant competition from other forms of payment like debit cards and BNPL services. The monthly value of debit card transactions has continued to surpass the monthly value of credit card transactions thanks to initiatives like the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) least-cost routing initiative. BNPL services have also gained popularity with younger consumers who constitute a significant market for online sellers. That's why revenue is set to weaken by an annualised 5.3% over the five years through 2024-25, to $7.6 billion. To compete with sophisticated competition, credit card issuers have beefed up their reward and referral programs and integrated online payment, service and customer acquisition platforms into their operations. The Big Four banks dominate the industry and NAB's acquisition of Citigroup's Australian consumer banking business has expanded its collective market share. Economic conditions tied to inflationary pressures have ravaged consumer sentiment and appetites for spending through credit. Some customers have opted to pay down debt instead and have avoided taking on more. A sharp climb in interest rates over the past few years has compounded this dynamic, which is set to constrain industry performance in 2024-25, with revenue declining by an anticipated 0.9%. Credit card issuers' performance will improve over the coming years as economic conditions recover. Credit card issuance revenue is projected to expand at an annualised 2.0% through the end of 2029-30, to total $8.4 billion. The RBA is forecast to slash the cash rate once inflation falls within the central banks' target band, lifting credit card issuer profit margins as funding costs drop. Alternative payment methods, like BNPL services, debit transactions and other fintech solutions, are on track to sap away demand for credit cards. However, easing inflationary pressures and lower interest rates over the medium term are set to spur household consumption expenditure and credit card use. In response to the fierce competition, issuers will emphasise innovation and enhance their rewards and points systems to entice consumers.

Australia Lending Rate: Small Business: Variable: Others: Overdraft data was reported at 10.510 % pa in Mar 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 10.630 % pa for Feb 2025. Australia Lending Rate: Small Business: Variable: Others: Overdraft data is updated monthly, averaging 9.960 % pa from Feb 1976 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 590 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 21.050 % pa in Dec 1989 and a record low of 6.510 % pa in Apr 2022. Australia Lending Rate: Small Business: Variable: Others: Overdraft data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Reserve Bank of Australia. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.M004: Lending Rate.

Mortgage lenders are dealing with the RBA's shift to a tighter monetary policy, as it fights heavy inflation. Since May 2022, the RBA has raised the benchmark cash rate, which flows to interest rates on home loans. This represents a complete reversal of the prevailing approach to monetary policy taken in recent years. Over the course of the pandemic, subdued interest rates, in conjunction with government incentives and relaxed interest rate buffers, encouraged strong mortgage uptake. With the RBA's policy reversal, authorised deposit-taking institutions will need to balance their interest rate spreads to ensure steady profit. A stronger cash rate means more interest income from existing home loans, but also steeper funding costs. Moreover, increasing loan rates mean that prospective homeowners are being cut out of the market, which will slow demand for new home loans. Overall, industry revenue is expected to rise at an annualised 0.4% over the past five years, including an estimated 2.2% jump in 2023-24, to reach $103.4 billion. APRA's regulatory controls were updated in January 2023, with new capital adequacy ratios coming into effect. The major banks have had to tighten up their capital buffers to protect against financial instability. Although the ‘big four’ banks control most home loans, other lenders have emerged to foster competition for new loanees. Technological advances have made online-only mortgage lending viable. However, lenders that don't take deposits are more reliant on wholesale funding markets, which will be stretched under a higher cash rate. Looking ahead, technology spending isn't slowing down, as consumers continue to expect secure and user-friendly online financial services. This investment is even more pressing, given the ongoing threat of cyber-attacks. Industry revenue is projected to inch upwards at an annualised 0.8% over the five years through 2028-29, to $107.7 billion.

As of the end of March 2025, the average mortgage interest rate for Australian owner-occupier borrowers was around *** percent. In comparison, the average investor interest rate was approximately *** percent. These rates refer to outstanding housing loans from banks and registered financial corporations. New loans financed in that month had even similar interest rates, at *** percent for owner-occupiers and *** percent for investors, respectively.

This dataset contains news headlines relevant to key forex pairs: AUDUSD, EURCHF, EURUSD, GBPUSD, and USDJPY. The data was extracted from reputable platforms Forex Live and FXstreet over a period of 86 days, from January to May 2023. The dataset comprises 2,291 unique news headlines. Each headline includes an associated forex pair, timestamp, source, author, URL, and the corresponding article text. Data was collected using web scraping techniques executed via a custom service on a virtual machine. This service periodically retrieves the latest news for a specified forex pair (ticker) from each platform, parsing all available information. The collected data is then processed to extract details such as the article's timestamp, author, and URL. The URL is further used to retrieve the full text of each article. This data acquisition process repeats approximately every 15 minutes.

To ensure the reliability of the dataset, we manually annotated each headline for sentiment. Instead of solely focusing on the textual content, we ascertained sentiment based on the potential short-term impact of the headline on its corresponding forex pair. This method recognizes the currency market's acute sensitivity to economic news, which significantly influences many trading strategies. As such, this dataset could serve as an invaluable resource for fine-tuning sentiment analysis models in the financial realm.

We used three categories for annotation: 'positive', 'negative', and 'neutral', which correspond to bullish, bearish, and hold sentiments, respectively, for the forex pair linked to each headline. The following Table provides examples of annotated headlines along with brief explanations of the assigned sentiment.

Examples of Annotated Headlines


    Forex Pair
    Headline
    Sentiment
    Explanation




    GBPUSD 
    Diminishing bets for a move to 12400 
    Neutral
    Lack of strong sentiment in either direction


    GBPUSD 
    No reasons to dislike Cable in the very near term as long as the Dollar momentum remains soft 
    Positive
    Positive sentiment towards GBPUSD (Cable) in the near term


    GBPUSD 
    When are the UK jobs and how could they affect GBPUSD 
    Neutral
    Poses a question and does not express a clear sentiment


    JPYUSD
    Appropriate to continue monetary easing to achieve 2% inflation target with wage growth 
    Positive
    Monetary easing from Bank of Japan (BoJ) could lead to a weaker JPY in the short term due to increased money supply


    USDJPY
    Dollar rebounds despite US data. Yen gains amid lower yields 
    Neutral
    Since both the USD and JPY are gaining, the effects on the USDJPY forex pair might offset each other


    USDJPY
    USDJPY to reach 124 by Q4 as the likelihood of a BoJ policy shift should accelerate Yen gains 
    Negative
    USDJPY is expected to reach a lower value, with the USD losing value against the JPY


    AUDUSD

RBA Governor Lowe’s Testimony High inflation is damaging and corrosive

    Positive
    Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) expresses concerns about inflation. Typically, central banks combat high inflation with higher interest rates, which could strengthen AUD.

Moreover, the dataset includes two columns with the predicted sentiment class and score as predicted by the FinBERT model. Specifically, the FinBERT model outputs a set of probabilities for each sentiment class (positive, negative, and neutral), representing the model's confidence in associating the input headline with each sentiment category. These probabilities are used to determine the predicted class and a sentiment score for each headline. The sentiment score is computed by subtracting the negative class probability from the positive one.

Interbank Rate in Australia decreased to 3.84 percent in June from 4 percent in May of 2025. This dataset provides - Australia Three Month Interbank Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The Debt Collection industry's performance tends to improve when economic conditions are weak, as these factors can elevate business bankruptcies and cause more households to default on loans. On the other hand, a strong economy and tight lending practices can dampen debt collection agencies' performance. Households and businesses pay down debts when the economy is performing well, while tighter lending practices leads to better loans that are less likely to default.While economic conditions weakened in the COVID-19 outbreak's aftermath, the government provided businesses with assistance via stimulus measures to ensure that they could remain in operation. This factor dampened business bankruptcies during the pandemic, dulling demand for debt collection services. Long-term drops in business bankruptcies, the household debt to assets ratio and the ratio of credit card debt to discretionary income have cut into industry profit margins. Despite these trends, debt collection agencies are starting to recover. Inflationary pressures have been ramping up, and the RBA has been raising the cash rate consistently to combat this climb. Resulting rises in interest rates and the cost of borrowing have made it more likely for households and businesses to accumulate bad debt. Revenue is expected to fall at an annualised 7.1% to an estimated $1.2 billion over the five years through 2023-24. However, this trend includes an expected rise of 9.4% in 2023-24, as recovering demand for debt collection services has sparked improved performance.Debt collection agencies' performance is set to keep recovering over the next few years. Climbing interest rates will lift the ratio of interest payments to disposable income, making it more likely that downstream markets will seek out debt collection services. Agencies are also likely to improve their profit margins; many debt collectors are implementing process automation via web portals, which can improve productivity and automate communications functions like sending emails and messages. Growth opportunities are also on track to arise for debt collectors, as more companies will be outsourcing receivables management to specialists in the industry – particularly companies in the finance, insurance, banking and telecommunications sectors. Overall, revenue is forecast to climb at an annualised 1.1% to an estimated $1.3 billion over the five years through 2028-29, reflecting the industry's improved operating conditions.

Bank Bill Swap Rate in Australia decreased to 3.73 percent on Friday July 11 from 3.74 in the previous day. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for Australia Bank Bill Swap Rate.

Divergent trends in the building and infrastructure sectors have constrained the Construction division’s performance through the end of 2024-25, with revenue expected to drop by an annualised 1.2% to $521.2 billion. Rollercoaster-like trends in the residential building market and pandemic-related supply chain disruptions have constrained the performance of homebuilders and many special construction service industries. Still, favourable trends in non-residential building construction and non-building infrastructure construction generate buoyant conditions for some Construction division segments. New house construction surged to a record peak in 2021-22, supported by the Federal Government’s HomeBuilder stimulus and record-low interest rates. Still, new house construction has plunged in recent years following the hike in mortgage interest rates as the RBA seeks to quell inflation. Many small homebuilders have hit the wall in response to intense competition, escalating input costs and plunging profit margins. Conversely, the construction of multi-unit apartments and townhouses has gradually recovered from the deep trough in 2021-22 as investors return to address the severe rental shortages in the face of mounting population pressures. Divisional revenue contracted with the 2023-24 housing slump and is expected to sink 3.2% in 2024-25. Some large prime and specialist trade contractors have derived substantial stimulus from constructing landmark road and rail developments, including the WestConnex motorway in Sydney and the Cross River Rail in Brisbane. Similarly, conditions have been strong for contractors working on non-residential building projects, particularly accelerated growth in the construction of industrial warehouses and distribution facilities. Favourable trends in the residential building market are forecast to underpin modest growth in Construction division revenue at an annualised 1.2% over the five years through 2029-30 to $554.0 billion. Many prime building and special construction contractors will benefit from an upswing in demand for constructing multi-unit dwellings and, to a lesser extent, single-unit housing and home renovations. The housing market will benefit from the initiatives under the National Housing Accord. Construction activity will remain stable in the non-residential market. At the same time, the principal constraint on the Construction division will come from the staged completion of several landmark road and rail projects.

The industry’s performance has been turbulent over the past five years, greatly influenced by external events. The emergence of the pandemic triggered an initial contraction in revenue, with international travel restrictions significantly harming industry segments dependent on overseas visitors, like hostels. However, caravan and holiday parks demonstrated resilience, outperforming other accommodation segments and leveraging intermittent intra-state travel to counterbalance losses. High saving balances led to a 'revenge travel' trend, where households desired to spend their savings on holidays. This supported the industry's initial recovery efforts during 2022-23, as occupancy rates approached 60.0%. However, the cost-of-living crisis and growing demand for outbound international travel stunted industry growth throughout 2023-24, causing occupancy rates to decline for the first time since the pandemic, limiting the industry's ability to recover to pre-pandemic profitability benchmarks. Expansions in household discretionary income are expected to reverse this trend in 2024-25, contributing to an anticipated 1.9% jump in industry revenue. Many businesses that withstood the impacts of the pandemic have been forced to consolidate with the industry’s major companies to try and recover their losses and stimulate demand. The industry has also dealt with increasing competition from accommodation-sharing platforms like Airbnb, pressuring traditional accommodation providers to lower their rates. However, recently introduced short-term stay taxes imposed on Airbnb-style rentals have benefited the industry. Overall, revenue is expected to have risen at an annualised 3.3% over the five years through 2024-25 to $5.5 billion. While overall demand is projected to grow over the next five years, revenue growth rates are forecast to remain modest due to rising market saturation. Elevated competition will also heighten pricing pressures on small-scale accommodation providers, which may struggle to stay profitable amid rising costs. However, easing household cost pressures may fuel demand, providing some relief. With inflation currently within the RBA’s target range, falling interest rates are set to spur non-essential spending, including on travel, benefiting industry revenue. The industry is also likely to see more stability, fostering increased capital investment in on-site facilities and further consolidation efforts from larger players. Despite an encouraging outlook, one lingering concern is the introduction of international student caps, which could significantly impact student accommodation providers. While the political climate currently remains uncertain, if demand from international students plummets, these properties may be repurposed into regular rentals. Overall, industry revenue is forecast to increase an annualised 1.6% over the five years through 2029-30, to $6.0 billion.

Mortgage brokers have benefited from the relatively resilient Australian housing market in recent years. Factors like the previously record-low interest rates, government stimulus and surging residential housing prices have improved loan values and loan volumes for brokers. Stronger commissions for brokers have grown profit margins and raised wages in the industry. Notably, the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services industries levied significant scrutiny on the conduct of mortgage brokers. As a result of the Royal Commission, numerous lenders changed their remuneration models for brokers, and the government even introduced legislation intended to reform the core principles of the industry. These reforms, including a statutory duty to act in the best interest of the borrower, have had varying effects on brokers. Overall, the Mortgage Brokers industry is expected to grow at an annualised 10.6% over the five years through 2024-25, to total $6.2 billion. Subsequent rate hikes introduced by the RBA in response to inflationary pressures have had relatively marginal effects on residential housing prices despite rising residential housing loan rates and the growing unaffordability of mortgages in general. Nonetheless, an expected easing of residential loan rates is set to push up mortgage broker revenue by an estimated 12.9% in 2024-25. Larger brokers have focused on improving their network sizes to improve the scale of their operations. Firms have also reckoned with threats from disruptive fintech operators. Interest rates are set to continue tumbling over the coming years following the RBA's cash rate drop in February 2025. However, the potential for future rate hikes pushing the housing market to a breaking point could have disastrous effects on mortgage brokers. Continued government stimulus in the form of the proposed Help to Buy Scheme and the Housing Australia Future Fund is set to support housing affordability and supply without artificially lowering housing prices and thereby indirectly benefiting broker operations. Overall, industry revenue is forecast to expand at an annualised 3.5% through 2029-30 to total $7.3 billion.