Australia’s headline inflation rate in the second quarter of the year slipped to its lowest point since March 2021, coming in at 2.1% year over year, compared to 2.4% in the preceding period.
This was lower than the 2.2% expected by economists polled by Reuters, and is almost touching the lower band of the 2%-3% target set by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
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The "trimmed mean" measure of inflation, which is the Reserve Bank's preferred measure of underlying inflation, also declined. It fell from 2.9 to 2.7 per cent between March and June, which broadly matches the Reserve Bank's forecasts from May. (Pink line in the graph)
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On a quarterly basis, Bureau of Statistics data show headline inflation rose by 0.7 per cent in the June quarter, down from 0.9 per cent pace in the March quarter.
The RBA has cut rates twice so far this year — each by 25 basis points — since it raised it to a 12-year high of 4.35% to combat higher-than-anticipated inflation.
Another cut of 25 bp is coming for sure after RBA was broadly criticised for holding on to 3.85% at their previous meeting.
But what can come retraining RBA is...
Australia’s GDP grew less than expected in the first quarter of 2025, expanding 1.3% year over year and lower than the estimated 1.5% growth in a Reuters poll.