Australian CPI spikes in Q2, but core inflation tame

[SYDNEY] Australia's consumer prices rose at the fastest annual pace in almost 13 years last quarter as petrol jumped and government subsidies unwound, but a far tamer reading for core inflation suggested the spike would be fleeting.

Wednesday's data showed the headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.8 per cent in the June quarter, from the previous quarter, just topping market forecasts of a 0.7 per cent increase.

Prices were up a sharp 3.8 per cent on a year earlier, but largely because the CPI had been artificially depressed last year by emergency relief measures related to coronavirus lockdowns.

The more benign underlying trend was evident in the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) trimmed mean measure of inflation which rose 0.5 per cent in the quarter and only 1.6 per cent for the year.

REUTERS