Prime Minister John Howard has rejected suggestions that the Australian economy could dip into recession following an interest rate rise this week. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) hiked rates by 25 basis points to a six-year high of 6.0 pct yesterday in a bid to rein in inflation caused by a resources boom. "For anybody to be even uttering that in the present circumstances with the strength of the economy, they are being misguided to say the least," Howard told reporters. Howard later said on radio that the Reserve Bank had no alternative to raising rates "because we now have inflationary pressures caused largely, but not only, by fuel price increases that didn't exist a year or 18 months ago."