CANBERRA, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Australia's annual inflation rate rose to 3.6 percent in April.
According to official figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday, the consumer price index (CPI) - the headline measure of inflation in Australia - rose by 3.6 percent in the 12 months to April.
It marks a slight increase from the 3.5 percent increase in the 12 months to March and the second consecutive month that inflation has risen.
Projections included in the federal budget for 2024-25, which Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down earlier in May, revealed that the Treasury expects inflation to fall below 3 percent by the end of 2024 - 12 months earlier than previously forecast by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
"We know there is more work to do in the fight against inflation because it is still too high and people are under pressure," Chalmers told reporters on Wednesday.
The ABS identified a 4.9 percent increase in housing costs between April 2023 and 2024 as the most significant driver of inflation.
In the same period, food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 3.8 percent, transport costs by 4.2 percent, and alcohol and tobacco prices by 6.5 percent.
Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, said a 4.2 percent rise in electricity prices would have been significantly higher if not for the introduction of a government rebate scheme in July 2023.
"Excluding the rebates, electricity prices would have risen 13.9 percent in the 12 months to April 2024," she said in a media release.
Fruit and vegetable prices were 3.5 percent higher in April 2024 than 12 months earlier, marking the biggest annual rise over the last year. ■
