Meanwhile, the all-important trimmed mean inflation – which the Reserve Bank uses as it strips out seasonality and volatility came in at 3.3% over the last three months or unchanged over the 12 months until March.
This is still above the central bank’s target rate of the midpoint between 2% and 3%.
Prior to the release, economists predicted the trimmed mean inflation rate would rise by 0.9% over the quarter, in line with the Reserve Bank’s forecast.
The market is putting an almost 80% chance the central bank raises the cash rate 25 basis points next week, which would be the third consecutive hike.
More to come …
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