PT Solid Gold Berjangka | Australia Monthly Inflation Holds Steady at 3.4% in February
Inflasi Ekonomi Australia CPI Australia PT SGB Solid Group SG Berjangka Solid Gold Berjangka
Solid Gold Berjangka | Australian inflation was steady for a third straight month in February, supporting the Reserve Bank’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged at a 12-year high last week.
The consumer price indicator advanced 3.4% from a year earlier, slightly less than economists’ estimates of 3.5% and matching January’s reading, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed on Wednesday.
When excluding volatile items, the annual rise eased to 3.9% from January’s 4.1%, still well above the RBA’s 2-3% target band.
The Australian dollar moved lower and was trading at 65.24 US cents at 11:34 am from 65.31 cents beforehand. The policy-sensitive three-year government bond yield also declined, while stocks extended gains.
The result follows the RBA’s March 19 rate decision when it left borrowing costs at 4.35% and dropped a tightening bias. Governor Michele Bullock reckons that aggregate demand remains above the economy’s supply potential, though she has signaled increased confidence recently that monetary policy is working to bring inflation back to target by 2025, as forecast.
While policymakers will review Wednesday’s figures, the key inflation data will be first-quarter CPI on April 24, which will feed into the RBA’s economic forecast ahead of the next board meeting on May 6-7.
Economists predict that the RBA will embark on an easing cycle in the third quarter and money markets maintained pricing for a rate cut as early as August.
The RBA’s current forecasts show inflation will only fall back within target in December 2025.
Source : Bloomberg