According to Sunny Nguyen of Moody's Analytics, the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to raise interest rates for the second consecutive time serves a dual purpose: to curb current inflation and to retain the capacity to support the economy in the future. The Australian economics director noted in a report that Tuesday's decision provides the RBA board with flexibility, allowing it to either hike rates again in May if inflation figures permit or keep rates steady without appearing complacent. Nguyen stated, "A central bank with a policy rate at 4.1% has significant room to cut rates. In contrast, another central bank with a policy rate at 3.85%, where real interest rates are near zero, has almost no room for rate reductions." Although markets had already priced in a May rate hike, the divided decision on Tuesday suggests that the likelihood of an increase is far from certain. Nguyen further added that rising interest rates and soaring fuel costs could cause the effects of the RBA's tightening measures to materialize faster than the committee anticipates.