The RBA's August financial aggregates show credit growing across households and businesses, with business lending running fastest, though the figures were published the day after the September rate decision.

On 30 September 2026, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its Financial Aggregates for August. The timing is worth noting at the outset: the release came one day after the Monetary Policy Board lifted the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.60 per cent on 29 September.

That means the published release could not have been cited in the Board's announcement. The material reviewed for this article does not say what preliminary data, if any, the Board saw before the release, so this article does not claim the August aggregates drove the decision. What the figures do offer is a clear picture of the credit and money conditions that existed when the Board made its call, and they line up closely with the themes in the Board's statement.

The August figures at a glance

Measure

Monthly change (%)

Year-ended change (%)

Total credit

0.6

8.4

Housing credit

0.4

7.3

Personal credit

0.7

5.1

Business credit

0.9

10.9

Broad money

0.1

6.9

Five takeaways from the release

1. Business credit is the standout. Lending to businesses rose 0.9 per cent in August and 10.9 per cent over the year, faster than any other category. That matches the Board's 29 September statement, which said business investment and debt growth are strong.

2. Housing credit is growing more slowly than total credit. At 7.3 per cent over the year, housing credit lagged total credit growth of 8.4 per cent. The Board's statement said new housing loans had declined noticeably, and Assistant Governor (Financial Markets) Christopher Kent said in August that housing credit growth had slowed following the three rate increases earlier in 2026.

3. Personal credit picked up in the month. Personal credit rose 0.7 per cent in August, a faster monthly pace than housing or total credit. Over the year, though, it grew 5.1 per cent, the slowest of the three lending categories.

4. Broad money barely moved in August. Broad money rose just 0.1 per cent in the month, although it was 6.9 per cent higher than a year earlier.

5. Credit overall is still expanding. Total credit grew 0.6 per cent in August.

An illustration: what the monthly pace implies

Illustration only, not an RBA calculation. One way to compare momentum with the year-ended figures is to compound each August monthly change over 12 months, assuming the same monthly rate continued every month for a year. On that simple arithmetic:

  • Total credit: 0.6 per cent a month compounds to about 7.4 per cent a year, below the 8.4 per cent year-ended rate.
  • Housing credit: 0.4 per cent a month compounds to about 4.9 per cent, well below the 7.3 per cent year-ended rate.
  • Personal credit: 0.7 per cent a month compounds to about 8.7 per cent, above the 5.1 per cent year-ended rate.
  • Business credit: 0.9 per cent a month compounds to about 11.4 per cent, slightly above the 10.9 per cent year-ended rate.
  • Broad money: 0.1 per cent a month compounds to about 1.2 per cent, far below the 6.9 per cent year-ended rate.

A single month is a noisy guide and monthly figures are rounded, so these annualised rates are indicative only. They are not forecasts. Still, the pattern is broadly consistent with the RBA's own commentary: housing credit momentum has cooled, while business lending remains strong.

How the data fit the Board's reasoning

The Board's statement listed several conditions behind its judgement that a further tightening was warranted. Inflation remains elevated, capacity pressures remain, and some upside risks had materialised. It also noted that consumer spending was easing gradually, housing prices had fallen in most capital cities and labour market conditions had eased broadly as expected.

The August aggregates reflect that mix. Slower housing credit is consistent with the cooling housing market and with Kent's August assessment that "the three cash rate increases earlier this year are having their intended effects". Strong business credit is consistent with the Board's observation about business investment.

Governor Michele Bullock told the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics on 18 September that monetary policy works with a lag and that the full effects of recent rises were not yet visible. Credit data, in that sense, show part of the transmission still under way.

The broader inflation picture remains the Board's focus. Headline inflation, from the monthly Consumer Price Index, was 4.0 per cent over the year to the August month of 2026. Underlying inflation was about 3.5 per cent for the past six months, according to Bullock, and the trimmed mean was 3.6 per cent in the June quarter. Both sit above the 2–3 per cent target.

What the release does not answer

The aggregates show how fast credit and money are growing, not why. They do not, on their own, separate demand for credit from lenders' willingness to supply it, nor show which industries account for strong business lending. Separately, the RBA's October 2026 Financial Stability Review noted that private credit accounts for around 10 per cent of total business debt, though the aggregates themselves do not identify that segment.

The bottom line

The August financial aggregates, released on 30 September, show total credit up 8.4 per cent over the year, with business credit leading at 10.9 per cent, housing at 7.3 per cent and personal credit at 5.1 per cent. Broad money grew 6.9 per cent over the year but only 0.1 per cent in August.

Published a day after the Board's decision, the figures are context for the hike rather than its cited trigger. They are consistent with the Board's description of an economy where housing lending has slowed but business investment and debt growth remain strong. The September minutes are due on 13 October, and the next decision at 2.30 pm on 3 November 2026.