Housing costs lead to inflation spike and there is more to come
HIGH levels of inflation will stick around for several months, the treasurer has warned, as new figures put pressure on the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates further. Underlying inflation ticked up for January, coming in at 3.4 per cent, up from 3.3 per cent the previous month. The Reserve Bank’s preferred measure of consumer prices, trimmed mean inflation, increased 0.3 per cent over January, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Wednesday. Headline inflation, which includes a broader spread of goods and services, held steady at 3.8 per cent in the