Inflation will “rise significantly,” warns Treasurer Jim Chalmers

Treasurer Jim Chalmers expects inflation to be “much higher” than expected.

Headline inflation rose to 5.1 percent year-on-year, the highest level since 2001.

Dr Chalmers said he would hand over the updates to parliament if it resumes next month, before the October budget.

“Inflation will be much higher than what was expected in the last budget of the previous government, which was expected during the election,” he said in an interview with ABC.

“Definitely higher than the 5.1 percent we saw in the March quarter. This problem with inflation will become more complicated.

“We will do the work from now until July to give people the most accurate assessment of where we think this inflation problem is heading.”

Experts and the government warn that inflation will worsen before it gets better.

Last week, Reserve Bank chief Philip Lowe predicted that inflation would reach a 32-year high of 7 percent.

It is expected that by 2023 it will not fall to the central bank’s target by 2-3 percent.

But his warning about the wage price spiral of the 1970s angered union boss Sally McManus, who claimed the RBA chief had lost touch with reality.

On Sunday, Dr. Chalmers backed Mr. Lowe, insisting that a future review by the Reserve Bank should not have “shot” the governor.

However, he pointed out that in the future the RBA board may have room for unions.

“It would be unprecedented for anyone on the other side of the conversation to be represented on the board,” the treasurer said.

The government is set to hold an employment summit, likely in September, to discuss wage and productivity deals in an attempt to raise wages.

The key topics for discussion will be more immigration policy, qualification policy and simplification of collective bargaining.

Asked whether Australians could count on real wage growth during this parliamentary term, Dr Chalmers replied that the government had already come up with low-paid workers.

“We have said that low-paid workers are our first priority. We have achieved this, ”he said.

However, when pressed, the treasurer said he ultimately hoped to control inflation.

“It is based on inflation, wages and on having a more productive workforce, so that there is a steady and strong increase in wages, which we hope will not increase inflationary pressures.”