Australia Inflation Rises In August
(RTTNews) - Australia's consumer price inflation accelerated in August on higher housing and transport costs, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.
Consumer price inflation rose to 4.0 percent from 3.5 percent in July. Inflation continues to remain above the central bank target range of 2-3 percent. Nonetheless, inflation was slightly weaker than economists' forecast of 4.1 percent. Housing was the largest contributor to consumer price inflation in August, up 5.7 percent from the last year.
ABS head of price statistics Rachael McCririck said the increase in housing cost reflected rising prices for both new dwellings and electricity. Transport was the second largest contributor, rising 5.6 percent due to higher automotive fuel prices.
However, excluding automotive fuel and electricity, trimmed mean inflation remained at 3.6 percent for the third straight month in August.
On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices rose 0.4 percent, following a 1.0 percent rise in July.
Automotive fuel prices surged 14.8 percent in August from the previous month, driven by higher global oil prices and the unwinding of the government relief measures, McCririck added.
Data came a day after the Reserve Bank of Australia raised its benchmark rate by a quarter-point to a 15-year high as some of the risks to inflation materialized. The board unanimously decided to raise the cash rate target to 4.60 percent, marking the third rate hike since the beginning of the year.
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