Australia’s headline annual inflation has risen to 3.8 per cent, largely meeting market expectations and easing the likelihood that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will raise rates when it meets next week.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed the consumer price index – the figure largely watched as the main level of inflation – rose 1.0 per cent in the June 2024 quarter and 3.8 per cent annually.
The figures are largely exactly what was predicted by forecasters and will give the RBA more leeway to keep interest rates on hold at the current level of 4.35 per cent.
Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, said this month’s 12-month rise is the first in almost two years.
“The June quarter rise is the same as the 1.0 per cent rise in the March 2024 quarter,” Marquardt said.
“The annual rise of 3.8 per cent for the June quarter is up from 3.6 per cent in the March quarter. This is the first increase in annual CPI inflation since the December 2022 quarter.”
