Australia- inflation a bit higher than expected, RBA on hold

In summary from Westpac's chief economist Luci Ellis, who was previously Assistant Governor (Economic) at the Reserve Bank of Australia:

• Inflation was a bit higher than expected in the March quarter. It is declining, but it has a way to go for the RBA to be confident of returning to the 2-3% target range on the desired timetable.
• We expect the Board to keep rates on hold in May, and have pushed out the date of the first rate cut to November this year, previously September.

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Earlier on the data and the RBA implications:

• 4 reasons why the RBA may be the last major central bank to cut rates

• Australian Q1 CPI +1.0% q/q (expected 0.8%) 3.6% y/y (expected 3.4%)
• AUD/USD jumped above 0.6500 on higher than forecast inflation data for Q1 of 2024

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The RBA next meet in the first week of May: