Australian inflation over the past year-and-a-half was the worst in three decades but the country is still unlikely to experience a recession, the head of the country's third-largest retail bank said on Thursday. "Inflation, while slowing, has hurt Australians more during the past 18 months than it has for three decades," National Australia Bank (NAB) CEO Ross McEwan said in a speech at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. Australian inflation peaked near 8% earlier this year but after 400 basis points of rate hikes since May 2022 - from 0.1% to 4.1% - inflation has slowed to 6%.