According to Jin10, Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis said the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to keep rates unchanged matched market expectations, but the more important development was the change in its policy guidance. Westpac said the RBA's statement that it was prepared to raise rates only if upside inflation risks materialized was more explicit than the broader "if needed" wording used at the May meeting, and that rate-hike expectations had in fact already been lowered even without a clear signal from the RBA. Westpac's base case has shifted to rates staying unchanged until mid-next year. The view is based on inflation and labor market data, both of which were below the RBA's May forecasts. Even so, Westpac still cautiously described the decision as a "hawkish pause" rather than a "loosening of rate restrictions," and said there remains a possibility of further rate hikes in the rest of this year, though the chance is smaller, depending mainly on energy-related cost pass-through and developments in the Middle East.