Inflation & Prices
Australia’s Core Inflation Cools, Vindicating RBA’s Rate Pause
- Aussie dollar, bond yields fall as traders lift bets on pause
- Lower prices for furniture, household goods, fuel drove easing
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Australia’s core inflation decelerated in the first three months of 2023, lending weight to the Reserve Bank’s view that prices will steadily come down and supporting the case for it to extend an interest-rate pause.
The currency fell and swaps traders boosted bets that the central bank will stand pat next week after official data showed the RBA’s preferred trimmed mean gauge slowed to 6.6% from a year earlier, compared with 6.9% in the final three months of 2022. On a quarterly basis, core prices also slowed more than expected.