Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has apologised to those who took out home loans based on his repeated statements that interest rates would not rise until 2024.

Lowe told a Senate estimates hearing it is “regrettable” that the RBA did not make it clear enough that this scenario would only occur if inflation did not rise as dramatically as it did.

“I’m sorry that people listened to what we said and then acted on that and now find themselves in a position they don’t want to be in,” he told the hearing.

“Looking back, we would have chosen different language. People did not hear the caveats. I thought it was clear but the community didn’t think it was clear. Well, they thought it was clear we weren’t raising rates until 2024. That’s a failure on our part.”

The official interest rate has increased from 0.1% in May to 2.85% in November.

Lowe says he made those comments when inflation was considered unlikely to pick up quickly.