Although inflation in the December quarter was less dramatic than the prior three-month period, the new stats also revealed annual inflation rates for households.
Year-on-year, household living-costs price index (HLPI) inflation for all households was 8.2 per cent.
For beneficiaries, it was 6.9 per cent and for superannuitants, annual inflation was 7.4 per cent.
For Māori, it was 8.1 per cent.
Stats NZ released the HLPI data this morning.
The data emerged just a day after signs the labour crisis might finally be easing, with unemployment rising slightly in the fourth quarter of 2022.
And it also emerged ahead of an expected Reserve Bank official cash rate hike later this month.
The Act party said the main contributor to the 8.2 per cent year-on-year jump in household living costs was increasing interest rates.
Party leader David Seymour said Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr and Finance Minister Grant Roberston weren’t doing a good enough job.
“The fault belongs to the Government and Adrian Orr. The Government binged on cheap credit from Orr’s low interest rates. Now mortgagees are suffering the hangover,” Seymour said.
He said Robertson must act to reduce the cost of living pressure on Kiwi households.
“The first thing is reducing his Government’s spending that is fuelling inflation and interest rates, and the second thing is providing Kiwis with some much needed tax relief.”
The HLPI measures how inflation affects various household groups. It covers costs including mortgage interest payments on owner-occupied housing.
