The Reserve Bank of Australia\u2019s deputy governor has urged shoppers to \u201cvote with their feet\u201d to avoid dodgy price hikes and warned that inflationary pressures have endured into the new year.<\/p>\n
Andrew Hauser told the Guardian\u2019s Australian Politics podcast that he understood frustration at companies \u201ctaking the P\u201d with price hikes and shrinkflation.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will take views about particular corporate strategies and pricing, and we saw all of that during Covid, didn\u2019t we, shrinkflation and all the rest of it,\u201d Hauser said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope people, [and] I\u2019m sure people do, vote with their feet when they think that companies have been taking the p.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n His comments echo those made by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, last year that supermarkets were sometimes \u201ctaking the piss\u201d, after sharp grocery price increases resulted in Coles being accused of breaking the law with \u201cillusory\u201d discounts. That case has been in court this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n As grocery prices surge again, the consumer watchdog has raised concerns<\/a> about supermarkets charging customers for fresh produce by item, rather than by weight \u2013 a practice that Guardian Australia found has become increasingly common<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hauser, who moved from the UK to work alongside Michele Bullock in 2024, acknowledged price hikes would put pressure on households but said that while people may feel \u201csome of the drivers of inflation are unfair or against their interests\u201d, inflationary pressures were not being driven by any one sector.<\/p>\n January\u2019s inflation figures \u2013 the first since the RBA raised the cash rate this month \u2013 will be released on Wednesday.<\/p>\n He also defended the RBA\u2019s unwillingness to criticise the spending choices of the Albanese government, saying it was beyond the remit of its \u201cunelected technocrats\u201d to give the government advice.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a vibrant public debate about public spending and long may that continue,\u201d Hauser said.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think that is our job, frankly, to try and get inflation back under control and to maintain full employment.\u201d<\/p>\n While the RBA is required to pursue both of those goals, the Liberal shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, last week said<\/a> the RBA had been \u201cconfused\u201d and its \u201ccore purpose\u201d should be curtailing inflation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hauser shut down Wilson\u2019s criticism, saying the bank had always focused on inflation and only chose to cut interest rates to support the jobs market in 2025 because price rises were slowing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe labour market has performed very well,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m sure the shadow treasurer and everyone else is not criticising that.\u201d<\/p>\n The RBA raised interest rates earlier in February, and another rate rise would follow if needed to bring inflation down, Hauser warned.<\/p>\n