Australia’s headline inflation rate accelerated to 4.3 percent in the year to September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Underlying inflation, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s preferred gauge, came in at an annual 3.6 percent over the same period.
Target still distant
Both figures sit well above the RBA’s 2.5 percent target. Officials have signalled the board may need to raise borrowing costs again to push price growth back down, pointing to what they have called a materially worse inflation outlook.
The official cash rate already stands at 4.6 percent, its highest level in 15 years, and feeds through into lending rates including mortgages. Most economists expect another increase when the RBA next meets on 3 November.
Political pressure builds
Unemployment is rising at the same time as living costs climb, a combination that is stirring political unease in Australia and beyond.
In the United States, annual inflation stood at 3.7 percent in September, near a 31-day high, underscoring how price growth remains a live concern for policymakers well beyond Canberra.
Related: Mexico's inflation accelerates past forecasts in early October
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics | Data: FRED — St. Louis Fed
