Australia’s February CPI will be released on Wednesday, 25 March.
The February CPI will allow us to gauge with some confidence whether underlying inflation in Q1 is likely to have remained as elevated as the RBA expects. The Bank has pencilled in +0.9% q/q for Q1 trimmed mean inflation.
Clearly the conflict in the Middle East means that the February CPI will be somewhat old news. The outlook for inflation is now hostage to how long the conflict persists.
