{"id":516015,"date":"2026-03-03T13:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516015\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T13:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:08:20","slug":"israel-iran-war-middle-east-conflict-threatens-australian-interest-rates-and-grocery-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516015\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel-Iran war: Middle East conflict threatens Australian interest rates and grocery prices"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fallout from the Middle East conflict is steadily spreading across the globe, and Australia is far from immune, with warnings of rising fuel costs, potential interest rate hikes and inflated grocery prices.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just fuel price rises as the Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock warned on Tuesday there could be more pain on the way.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Middle East conflict could impact grocery prices and interest rates<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA supply shock of this nature, for example, could add to inflation pressures,\u201d Bullock said.<\/p>\n

The RBA Governor says it\u2019s too early to tell how the Iran conflict will impact Australia\u2019s economy but admits inflation and interest rates could stay higher for longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvents are moving rapidly and there are different ways that this can play out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"MicheleMichele Bullock, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Photographer: Brent Lewin\/Bloomberg Credit: Brent Lewin\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n

The fallout is already being felt on global oil markets. In Australia, wholesale regular unleaded has jumped 5.5 cents a litre since Saturday, with diesel up five cents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens in the Middle East in the next few days and weeks will be critical,\u201d NRMA\u2019s Peter Khoury said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia enters this period of great instability very well prepared. There is no need to rush to the service station and fill up,\u201d Energy Minister Chris Bowen said.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s exactly what some Australians are doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe price is going to go up,\u201d one driver said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just coming in because I saw the line up and, you know, war\u2019s going on,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n

\"QueuesQueues for petrol on Tuesday. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

Economists warn when fuel prices rise, it flows through the entire economy, impacting transport, groceries, goods and services, while disruption to global supply chains could cause further price pain.<\/p>\n

Global supply chain expert Kelly Crossley said air freight is the issue for immediate impact, but longer-term concerns centre on sea freight.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood, furniture, electronics, machinery, sporting equipment, everything. Everything is pretty much imported,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Middle East conflict could impact the price of groceries. Credit: Piman Khrutmuang – stock.adobe.c<\/p>\n

If fuel prices rise and remain high, it will make inflation even harder to control. The next interest rate decision is in a fortnight, with the door open for back-to-back hikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not making a prediction about March, but it will be a live meeting,\u201d Bullock said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, families continue to struggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s dire,\u201d one person said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Drivers queue amid petrol price fears but true bowser pain could be 10 days away<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Hope flights will resume as Aussies stranded in Middle East conflict<\/p>\n

3 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fallout from the Middle East conflict is steadily spreading across the globe, and Australia is far from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,99,5575,6897,44,84,255658,1346,5072],"class_list":["post-516015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-united-states-usa","tag-world-news","tag-world-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}