The Consumer Price Index, which is concerned with measuring inflation, CPI in Australia, according to figures from the Office of Statistical Analysis, rose to 1.3% in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to 0.8% in the third quarter, to come in better than expectations, which indicated a rise to 1%, and the index rose by 3.5% over the ethnic Ten months to the last quarter of 2021 (forecast at 3.2%).

The most important increases in the consumer price index in the last quarter came from an increase in car fuel prices by 6.6% and a rise in new housing prices by 4.2%.

The main index, excluding gasoline prices, rose by 1% in the last quarter, compared to 0.7% in the third quarter, while expectations indicated its stability.

After these figures, the market’s bets rose that the Reserve Bank of Australia would tighten monetary policy in the first quarter of the year, given that the bank’s inflation target of 2-3% has been far exceeded in the current figures, and it is not excluded that we will witness an end to the bond purchase program in the next bank meeting in February.

The Australian dollar rose after this data to test levels of 0.7180 against the US dollar, before declining now with the rise of the US dollar, and it is trading at 0.7141 levels.