{"id":502922,"date":"2026-02-25T10:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502922\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T10:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:29:10","slug":"annual-inflation-remains-steady-abs-figures-show-mps-respond-to-news-pm-was-forced-to-evacuate-the-lodge-over-security-threat-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502922\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual inflation remains steady, ABS figures show; MP\u2019s respond to news PM was forced to evacuate The Lodge over security threat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mortgage holders might be spared an interest rate rise at the next Reserve Bank meeting, but fresh inflation figures have placed further pressure on the board for future hikes.<\/p>\n<p>Underlying inflation ticked up for January to 3.4 per cent, up from 3.3 per cent in December.<\/p>\n<p>The Reserve Bank\u2019s preferred measure of consumer prices, trimmed mean inflation, increased by 0.3 per cent in January, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Headline inflation, which includes a broader spread of goods and services, held steady at 3.8 per cent in the year to January, the same as the December reading.<\/p>\n<p>Treasurer Jim Chalmers said stubborn levels of inflation would likely stick around for some time.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Treasurer Jim Chalmers.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/392af7b57a63daa82e6bc69f9790375ae0c3aec6.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 bnWZMz\"\/>Treasurer Jim Chalmers.AAP<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are the sorts of numbers that we expect to see throughout the first half of the year while the government\u2019s energy rebates come off,\u201d Chalmers told reporters in Brisbane. \u201cWe knew before these numbers that inflation would come in higher than we would like.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The end of federal and state energy rebates has exacerbated inflation increases, with energy costs rising 32.2 per cent in the year to January, compared to 21.5 per cent in the 12 months to December. Excluding the impact of the rebates, energy prices would have risen by 4.5 per cent in the year to January.<\/p>\n<p>After the Reserve Bank chose to lift interest rates to 3.85 per cent at its February meeting, Bendigo Bank chief economist David Robertson said a second straight rise was not likely. But more increases were on the cards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA range of factors suggest this new tightening cycle will likely be persistent and drawn-out, including the resilience of global trade in the face of tariffs and tight domestic labour and housing markets,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cAlthough we currently only forecast one more hike this calendar year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MLC senior economist Bob Cunneen said the inflation data would concern the central bank.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Reserve Bank\u2019s finger remains on the interest rate trigger, given these persistent price pressures,\u201d Cunneen said. \u201cAnother interest rate rise is on the horizon for Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chalmers said the decision to end the energy rebates was a difficult one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know the impact it is having on families and on this data,\u201d he said. \u201cThese new numbers are another important reminder that the coming budget will have the right focus on inflation and productivity against a backdrop of global uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson said removing the energy subsidies had revealed the true picture of inflation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil the government stops pouring debt-petrol onto the inflation fire, the cost of household groceries will continue to go up,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThe cost of the supermarket basket will go up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mortgage holders might be spared an interest rate rise at the next Reserve Bank meeting, but fresh inflation&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-502922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}