The Reserve Bank may worry about sharply rising house prices in parts of the country, but overall price inflation remains extremely benign.
The latest consumer price index released on Wednesday shows annual inflation at just 1.5 per cent – below the central bank’s two to three per cent inflation target – after a 0.7 per cent increase in the three months to the end of June.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics largely blamed the quarterly increase on a 12.2 per cent jump in petrol prices.
Underlying inflation, which strips out the effects of volatile price movements, rose 0.55 per cent in the June quarter for an annual rate of 2.3 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.