With the release of the March inflation figures on Tuesday showing a big jump, the likelihood of a rate rise next week has become all but certain. Admittedly it was all but certain before the release of the figures, because the Reserve Bank is determined to smash households even though the cause of inflation is overwhelmingly due to international events.

A month ago I noted of the February inflation figures that they were out of date the moment they were released given they did not take into account the impact of the rise in prices from the war on Iran.

And so it has come to pass. In the month of March alone, inflation rose 1.1% and annual inflation rose from 3.7% to 4.6%.

But we need to remember that this is the new monthly measure – which is quite erratic. The old-style quarterly measure of inflation has annual inflation at just 4.0% (because petrol prices only rose in March, not in January and February)

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Everyone expects the Reserve Bank will use this as an excuse to raise rates, but really the figures show just how pointless such a rise would be at affecting inflation. It would instead just be another whack on households who have........

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