Inflation jumps to 4.6% in Australia as Iran war fuel shock begins to bite

Financial markets are betting the Reserve Bank will hike interest rates for a third straight meeting next Tuesday

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Inflation jumped to 4.6% in the year to March, from 3.7% the month before, in what experts say is the start of an Iran war-linked fuel shock that will ripple through the economy over coming months.

With consumer prices now growing at their fastest pace in two and a half years, financial markets are betting the Reserve Bank will hike interest rates for a third straight meeting next Tuesday as officials struggle to manage the “nightmare scenario” of containing inflation even as growth is expected to slow sharply.