Leading economist urges RBA to get aggressive on rate rises
Inflation across Australia increased to 6.1 per cent in the past 12 months – and 7.4% in Perth – as high construction and petrol prices continue to squeeze consumers.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday reported the consumer price index increased by 1.8 per cent in the June quarter. That followed a 2.1 per cent lift through the first three months.
But in a worry for the Reserve Bank, the key measures of underlying inflation – which strip out one-off price increases – both jumped above 4 per cent, meaning it will consider a third successive 0.5 percentage point interest rate increase when it meets next Tuesday.
LISTEN 👇 to why an interest rate rise of 0.75% is on the cards
Market Economics managing director and independent economist Steve Koukoulas said sometimes it was good to get the bad medicine out of the way early.
“The better and quicker you achieve your targets [you should], and because we have inflation so high, and such a low unemployment, it means we can get away with aggressive moves,” he told Liam Bartlett on 6PR Mornings.
New ABS figures show Perth’s CPI has risen by 1.7% from the previous quarter – taking it to 7.4% for the year to June.
That’s the greatest annualised increase of all Australian capitals – closely followed by Brisbane at 7.3%. Average is 6.1% #costofliving @6PR pic.twitter.com/73LUwaASUJ
— Anne Naylor (@anne_naylor) July 27, 2022