This interest rate rise is entirely, 100% the government’s fault

The useful part

Nicola Willis quickly blamed everyone but the government for the Reserve Bank's decision to raise the official cash rate to 2.75% this afternoon. The move was aimed at taming inflation, which rose to its highest level in two years in the June quarter. That was mainly due to offshore events that National didn't instigate, the finance minister claimed.

How it works

• "For the member to be asserting that somehow our government's decisions have led to this predicament, I think shows ignorance and recklessness," she said.
• US president Donald Trump has undeniably forced fuel prices up thanks to his genius move to start a war with a country that controls the world's most important shipping bottleneck.
• That's increasing costs for motorists and businesses that rely on petrol or diesel, which is unfortunately pretty much all of them.
• A more consistent, principled interpretation is that this is entirely, 100% National'...

Details worth keeping

National takes full credit when interest rates drop. It's only fair it gets the blame when they rise. Willis was dismissive of Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick's insinuation that the government was at least partly to blame for leaving the country exposed to those price rises, given it had paused investment in green energy early in its term.