Australia’s January CPI will be released on Wednesday, 25 February.
The January CPI will provide an early gauge of 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 but we view the risks as skewed to the downside.
Headline CPI inflation in January will be significantly boosted by electricity prices which will have risen sharply as government rebates ended in December (except in WA).
