Philip Lowe admits the RBA erred on its rate rise timing – but there were messaging misfires too

‘The Reserve Bank of Australia’s governor, Philip Lowe, has laid the blame for the prediction misfire on rate rises on “a very large inflation surprise”.’ Photograph: Mark Baker/AP

As fundraisers go, the Reserve Bank of Australia governor, Philip Lowe’s speech on Thursday to the Anika Foundation might not have encouraged a flood of donations.

The annual event, to raise funds for adolescent depression, heard Lowe predict more interest rate rises to come just days after he hiked the central bank’s main interest rate by half a percentage point, in what is already the fastest spate of increases since 1994.