00:00As cost of living pressures bite, this charity says that it is serving more free meals than
00:08ever before.
00:09Everything is very expensive.
00:10It's not easy.
00:11Electricity is very expensive, the gas is expensive, the water is expensive.
00:18The latest figures for August show that power bills have dramatically fallen in the past
00:23year thanks to government rebates.
00:27Fuel is also going down.
00:29Energy prices are still rising, but not as quickly.
00:33So too are rents, but not as much as they were at the peak of the housing crisis.
00:38All of this is helping bring headline inflation down below 3% for the first time in three
00:44years.
00:46These are heartening numbers, encouraging numbers, they're welcome numbers, but we're
00:50not getting carried away because we know that the monthly numbers can be volatile.
00:55If we didn't have those energy rebates from the state and the federal government, then
00:59headline inflation would have been at 3.1%.
01:03The Reserve Bank has been keeping interest rates high to stop people spending.
01:08Pressure is mounting on the Reserve Bank to start cutting interest rates now that inflation
01:14is at its lowest level since 2021.
01:17However, the Reserve Bank pays attention to core inflation, which strips out temporary
01:23price drops such as those on the energy bills.
01:27And this number is still above its target.
01:30Our view is that the Reserve Bank will be cutting interest rates by February of next
01:34year, but we do recognise the risk that we could get a rate reduction before Christmas.
01:39We're no closer to an interest rate cut than we were yesterday.
01:44The economy is barely growing and, individually, Australians are now going backwards.
01:50We have had a few single parents coming in with their little ones, which is always a
01:56little bit sad to see.
01:57An economy on the edge, as many still wait for relief.
Comments