WEBVTT - Inflation’s down - but not enough

0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:04.440
<v Speaker 1>Today's Biggest News from The Australian. I'm Claire Harvey with

0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:10.360
<v Speaker 1>the Front's afternoon headlines. Inflation has fallen, taking some pressure

0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:13.320
<v Speaker 1>out of the economy, but it probably won't reduce the

0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.920
<v Speaker 1>risk of another interest rate rise. The first full inflation

0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:20.000
<v Speaker 1>reading since the government announced a three point three billion

0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:23.759
<v Speaker 1>dollar fuel excise cut shows the consumer price index rose

0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.920
<v Speaker 1>four point two percent in the year to March. That's

0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:30.600
<v Speaker 1>down from four point six percent. What is going up

0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:34.400
<v Speaker 1>is electricity costs, up a staggering twenty two point five

0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:38.680
<v Speaker 1>percent over the past twelve months. The easing in headline

0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:42.559
<v Speaker 1>inflation is thanks to that fuel excise reduction, which was

0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:46.440
<v Speaker 1>the government's response to price pressures caused by the Iran War.

0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:50.600
<v Speaker 1>Petrol prices went up nearly thirty three percent in March

0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:54.319
<v Speaker 1>and fell seven percent in April after the policy came

0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:59.280
<v Speaker 1>into effect. The Reserve Bank is mainly interested in underlying inflation,

0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:02.840
<v Speaker 1>which here it three point four percent, up from three

0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:06.600
<v Speaker 1>point three percent in the latest figures. That's well above

0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:09.520
<v Speaker 1>the Central Bank's target range of two to three percent,

0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:12.600
<v Speaker 1>which it uses to determine whether or not to put

0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.959
<v Speaker 1>the cash rate up. All this comes after the Australian

0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:19.959
<v Speaker 1>revealed on Wednesday the government has massively increased spending, with

0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.319
<v Speaker 1>the budget papers showing federal spending is up thirty six

0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:27.840
<v Speaker 1>billion dollars over the four estimates above the government's last

0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:33.000
<v Speaker 1>update in December. Economists consistently warn that government spending is

0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:36.400
<v Speaker 1>one of the key drivers of inflation, although Treasurer Jim

0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:42.760
<v Speaker 1>Chalmers argues that's not the case. Right now, check out

0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:45.880
<v Speaker 1>that story live right now at the Australian dot com

0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:48.200
<v Speaker 1>dot a U and come back to the front first

0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:49.880
<v Speaker 1>thing in the morning for our good look at the

0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:53.600
<v Speaker 1>most fascinating move in media in a long time. Billionaire

0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:56.840
<v Speaker 1>Jenna Reinhardt is revealed as the money behind a big

0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.840
<v Speaker 1>new owner of the Seven network and its radio and

0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:04.520
<v Speaker 1>newspaper assets. So what's Gina up to? That's right here

0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:05.520
<v Speaker 1>Thursday morning.