Australian households face prospect of interest rate hike and petrol prices rising above $2 a litre

Crude oil prices are likely to stay elevated for ‘at least a year’ as the US-Iran war enters a new and more dangerous phase, an expert warns. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Australian households face the prospect of a Reserve Bank interest rate hike and petrol prices above $2 a litre over the coming weeks, economists warn, as the escalating Middle East crisis pushes global crude back above $US100 a barrel.

Financial markets now see an even chance the RBA board will deliver a fourth cash rate increase at the next meeting on 11 August.