Australia's inflation rate is expected to tick higher in the June quarter but the increase will be capped by a cut in the fuel excise announced this week.
"Our central forecast is for inflation to pick up to four-and-a-quarter per cent through the year in the March and June quarters," Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy told a post-budget Senate estimates hearing on Friday.
Of this, about one percentage point would be due to the direct effect of higher oil prices on fuel.
