Australia's headline inflation rate has accelerated to 4.3%, according to a report from The Guardian's report on the consumer price index release. The outlet said a key gauge that strips out volatile prices is also elevated.
The Guardian reported that the figures come ahead of a Reserve Bank of Australia decision next week and have sharpened expectations of another interest rate rise. Its headline describes the expected move as a "fifth interest rate hike this year." The outlet's summary links the pressure to the Middle East conflict, which it said is intensifying the cost of living crisis.
The Guardian's summary also says the Reserve Bank of Australia's preferred measure of consumer prices is part of the picture, but the summary is cut off before it states what that measure shows. The business editor Jonathan Barrett is named as the author of the report. The available summary does not provide further figures, official comments or details of the coming decision, so those points cannot be confirmed from this account alone.