Deflation renews pressure on Reserve Bank
The Reserve Bank will be facing added pressure when it meets next week after Australia experienced deflation for the first time in seven years.
The Reserve Bank will be facing added pressure when it meets next week after Australia experienced deflation for the first time in seven years.Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have shown the consumer price index (CPI) contracting for the three months to the end of March. The result put the annual inflation rate at 1.3%, down from 1.7% and well below the RBA’s 2-3% target band.
A NAB Economics release said the CPI reading was the lowest quarterly and annual rate since the Reserve Bank began its inflation targeting. NAB blamed the low reading on “a wide range of factors”.
“Some are clearly cyclical, like lower energy prices, and seem more permanent, like the very low level of wage growth despite a falling unemployment rate. Few of the factors behind low inflation represent a particular signal of demand weakness in the Australian economy – especially the non-mining economy,” NAB Economics said in a release.
The RBA’s historic moves
In the most recent finder.com.au Reserve Bank survey, 97% of the experts polled correctly forecast that the Bank would remain on the sidelines in April. Sixty per cent of the experts surveyed predicted the RBA’s next move would be an upward one.
The next finder.com.au Reserve Bank survey will be released this weekend.
