According to a report by Jin Shi Data, a senior economist at the West Pacific Bank pointed out that Australia's CPI data for the March quarter reflects a downward trend in inflation, essentially locking in the expectation that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates later this month.
Although the CPI increased by 0.9% quarter-on-quarter, which is higher than expected, the year-on-year increase is 2.4%, below the midpoint of the Reserve Bank of Australia's target range of 2%-3%. The core inflation indicator is more critical, with the annual rate of core inflation for the March quarter at 2.9%, but the annualized growth rate over the past six months is only 2.5%. This momentum is sufficient to prompt the Reserve Bank to initiate a rate cut.