STORY: Australia's inflation steady at 2.5 percent
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 26, 2025
DATELINE: Feb. 27, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:23
LOCATION: Canberra
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the supermarkets
2. various of the street

STORYLINE:

Australia's headline rate of inflation remained steady at 2.5 percent in the year to January, official figures have revealed.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said on Wednesday that consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.5 percent in the 12 months to January, matching the December figure.

The Australian Associated Press reported that analysts had expected the CPI to rise 2.6 percent in the year to January.

The ABS identified a 3.3 percent increase in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices, 2.1 percent increase in housing prices and 6.4 percent increase in alcohol and tobacco prices in the 12 months to January as the main drivers of headline inflation.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the figures reflect "substantial and sustained" economic progress.

"It's the first time in nearly four years that inflation has been below 3 percent for six months straight," he wrote on social media.

The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank, earlier in February said that it expected underlying inflation to fall to 2.7 percent by mid-2025 and remain there through to mid-2027.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Canberra.
(XHTV)