Inflation has slipped from 6% to 5.4%, but the price of petrol climbed 7.2% in the September quarter. Much depends on what the RBA thinks will happen from here on.
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Petrol prices have pushed inflation up. At its next meeting, the Reserve Bank board is going to have to decide if that warrants an increase in interest rates.
If the fuel excise cut is not extended, average petrol prices in Australia will almost certainly return to the above $2 territory by early October. But a different solution is needed.
A study commissioned by the ACT government finds zero-interest loans and free registration help – but the price of the car and petrol prices matter most of all.
Free public transport risks worsening social inequalities, helping wealthier households who live in areas with good services while those in outer suburbs must still use cars.
Petrol prices have spiked, forcing governments to step in to reduce costs. But will the rising prices actually force drivers out of their cars, reducing consumption and carbon emissions?
Australia might be a long way away, but fossil fuel price spikes triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine are hitting households hard. We could have avoided this pain.
Proposals to cut Australia’s fuel excise will prolong an already alarming dependence on oil-based imports and undermine policies to shift the nation away from fossil fuels.
South Africa hasn’t achieved its policy objective of deregulating the fuel price because vested interests have opposed this, and the government doesn’t have the political will to implement the policy.
New analysis of the behaviour of petrol retailers in Perth over a period of five years shows how tacit collusion caused prices to increase by up to 50%.
In his first royal decree, Saudi Arabia’s newly crowned King Salman announced two-month bonuses for state employees, pensioners, students, and recipients of social service programs (that is, everyone in…