Australia’s Monthly CPI Cools, Cementing July Rate-Cut Case

A gauge of Australia’s monthly inflation cooled faster than anticipated in May, moving close to the bottom of the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% target and cementing the case for an interest-rate cut as soon as next month.

Economists at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Deutsche Bank Ag and Royal Bank of Canada were among those that brought forward calls for the RBA’s next easing to July after official data on Wednesday showed the Consumer Price Index indicator rose just 2.1%, slower than a Bloomberg consensus of 2.3%. The headline figure has now been inside the RBA’s target for 10 months.