Prime Minister Christopher Luxon holds post-Cabinet media conference
inflation has hit a 12-month high
.
Stats NZ said the consumer price index rose 0.5 percent in the three months ended June, pushing the annual rise to 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent, the highest since June last year.
The inflation numbers were a shade below economists' expectations, although they have continued to forecast the annual rate going above the Reserve Bank's (RBNZ) 1-3 percent target band.
Expectations are for the RBNZ to deliver a further cut to the official cash rate next month to 3-percent, with further cuts dependent on the state of the local economy and the broader global trade and growth outlook.
New Zealand's inflation rate was higher than Australia and the European Union, matched that in the US, but was below the UK And the OECD's average of 4 percent.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the data showed inflation remained under control and it was the fourth consecutive quarter inflation had remained within the Reserve Bank's target range.
"New Zealanders can be assured it now has a government that is paying attention to forces that affect their cost of living," she said.
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