Forecasts for interest rates and inflation to remain well above 3.5 per cent into financial year 2025 mean savers and investors face big challenges to protect and grow their wealth into the future.

For now, markets expect the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates just once by June 2025. The central bank’s latest forecast is for inflation to reach 3.8 per cent by December and not return to its target range between 2 and 3 per cent until the second half of 2025.