Canberrans weigh up cost of living and pet ownership as another rate hike looms

The Canberra Business Chamber says small businesses will likely be the hardest hit by RBA interest rate hikes, along with property rate increases in Canberra. It comes as consumers are spending less, with some resorting to giving up their pets to animal shelters due to unaffordability. What's next? The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to raise interest rates next week to manage inflation. The CEO of the Canberra Business Chamber is confident when he says business sentiment in the territory is currently "as bad as it's ever been". The Reserve Bank is expected to raise interest rates a third time this year to manage inflation, in part from high fuel prices spurred on by the war in the Middle East, along with Australia's tight jobs market. At the moment, Canberrans are copping the highest fuel prices of all Australian capital cities. Canberra Business Chamber CEO Greg Harford said businesses felt pressure was mounting when simultaneously, consumers were not spending as much. "The cost of running a business is up, just as the cost of running a household is up," Mr Harford said. "You've got interest rates, the cost of petrol, all of that's really biting consumers' disposable income," he said. "So there's less money coming in the door for many businesses, and that obviously puts real pressure on profitability in some of those areas." Retail, hospitality, services hardest hit Mr Harford said the coming expansion of portable long service leave to the hospitality and retail sector, while benefiting employees, was an example of rising costs which could ultimately be passed onto consumers. Under the portable long service scheme, casual workers have access to long service entitlements, even if they switch employers. Employers register and pay a set levy on the gross ordinary wages of eligible employees. Mr Harford also said Canberra's commercial property rates had gone up about 8 per cent this year. "My real worry is for those small businesses that are heavily leveraged, they've got very small margins, they're very reliant on customers coming through the door and spending, and those are the ones that are most at risk in the current situation," he said. Pet surrenders continue Animal shelters around the country have been under strain as Australians weigh up living expenses with the cost of companion animals. In the ACT since 2022, the cost of living has been one of the main reasons Canberrans were handing in their companion animals, according to the RSPCA. "'Unable to afford care' was the seventh most common surrender reason in FY22, but it has consistently ranked among the highest reasons in more recent years, including being the second most common reason for the past two years,"Canberra's local RSPCA said.