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Recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that the consumer price index (CPI) experienced a rise of 4.6 per cent in the year leading up to March, an increase from February’s rate of 3.7 per cent.
On a more positive note for those concerned about rising borrowing costs, the trimmed mean inflation rate—favoured by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) as a measure of core inflation—remained unchanged at 3.3 per cent.
Before the release of this data, financial markets had anticipated a nearly 75 per cent likelihood of an interest rate increase during the upcoming meeting of the RBA’s monetary policy board, with predictions of a hike being echoed by all four major banks across the country.