• Westpac’s forecast for the March quarter CPI is 0.1%qtr with the annual pace easing back to 1.4%yr from 1.8%yr. • The March quarter is a seasonally soft quarter with the ABS projecting a seasonal factor of +0.2ppt. The seasonally adjusted CPI is forecast to rise 0.3%.
• Core inflation is forecast to print 0.3%qtr (0.33% at two decimal places) holding the annual pace at 1.6%yr. The trimmed mean is forecast to rise 0.34%qtr and the weighted median is forecast to rise 0.33%qtr.
• Drought conditions have a mixed impact on food prices but overall food should rise 1.1%qtr. The other main positives are alcohol & tobacco along with the annual price increases for healthcare and education which combined almost fully offset falling fuel prices, recreation and clothing & footwear.
• Traded prices are forecast to fall 0.6%qtr while non-traded prices are forecast to rise 0.6%qtr.
• Core inflation is to remain well below the bottom of the RBA target band as moderating housing costs hold back modest inflationary pressures elsewhere. Overlay a competitive deflationary pressure in consumer goods and it is hard to see core inflation breaking much higher any time soon.
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
