Figures released this morning, Wednesday, February 26, in the Asian session from the Australian Institute of Statistics (ABS) showed that consumer price inflation rose by 2.5% in January on an annual basis, the same as December, while expectations were for a rise of 2.6%.

The core index, which excludes volatile items such as motor fuel, fruits and vegetables, rose by 2.9% in January compared to 2.7% in December.

In detail, the most significant increase in the index came from the food and non-alcoholic beverages sector, which rose by 3.3% in January compared to 2.7%, and the alcohol and tobacco index rose by 6.4% from 5.8%, and housing by about 2.1% from 1.5% in December. In contrast, the annual decline in electricity continued in January, with a decline of 11.5% compared to a decline of 17.9% in December.