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Price gauge to reflect fuel, cost-of-living relief

By AAP Newswire

Aug 28, 2024

Pumps at a petrol station — Falling prices at the petrol pump are likely to weigh on the CPI figure for July. -AAP Image

Cheaper petrol and energy bill relief are expected to show up in softer monthly inflation figures for July.

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Wednesday's consumer price index from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is tipped to moderate further after the rate dropped to 3.8 per cent in June.

Economists will comb through the details of the volatile monthly dataset, which does not measure all prices captured in the more comprehensive quarterly print.

Electricity rebates in some states are likely to weigh on the July figure, Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk said, as well as falling prices at the petrol pump.

The bank is expecting the annual pace to dip to 3.4 per cent in July from 3.8 per cent, which would take inflation to its slowest pace since August 2021.

The Reserve Bank has pushed back on expectations of a near-term interest rate cut. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

The RBA has already indicated it plans to look through the temporary bill relief and focus on underlying inflation.

The central bank maintains core inflation is still too high and has pushed back on expectations of a near-term interest rate cut, diminishing hopes of repayment relief before the end of a year.

As well as the consumer price index, the ABS will release construction work done statistics for the June quarter.