The Australian economy is likely to face another interest rate increase in February and the following months as the higher-than-expected inflation figures raise the possibility of the central bank taking further action.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveals that the annual inflation rate reached 7.8 percent in the 2022 December quarter, up from 7.3 percent in the previous three months.
This is also the highest consumer price index (CPI) growth since 1990.
In terms of quarterly growth, inflation climbed by 1.9 percent in the three months to December 2022, up from the 1.8 percent recorded in the past two quarters but was still lower than the March quarter growth of 2.1 percent….