Australia’s Slower Inflation Expands RBA Rate-Cut Scope: Economy

Australian consumer prices gained less than economists forecast last quarter on cheaper food and health care, pushing down the local dollar and giving the central bank scope to reduce interest rates.

The trimmed mean gauge of core prices rose 0.6 percent from the prior quarter, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today, compared with the median forecast of 26 economists for a 0.7 percent gain. The broader consumer price index advanced 0.2 percent from three months earlier, half the forecast increase.