Prospect of RBA Rate Hike Is Being Kicked Around

SYDNEY—There’s plenty of number crunching going on among economists at Australia’s big banks about the potential for an interest-rate increase as early as February.

The water-cooler chat has bubbled up as indicator after indicator points to frothy consumer spending, surging private-sector demand and a rise in inflation that will sour the pre-Christmas luncheon that the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia will no doubt enjoy at a policy meeting next week.