"Today's quarterly CPI result surprised a lot of economic commentators. It highlights the need for New Zealand’s Government to resource more frequent inflation reporting," said CA ANZ NZ & Pacific Leader Peter Vial FCA. 

"Unfortunately, rather than getting a strong CPI measure earlier in the quarter, and being able to react sooner, New Zealanders have had to wait a whole quarter to find out our Reserve Bank's rate hikes haven’t had the desired effect.  

"We don’t need to throw the quarterly CPI basket out with the bathwater, but we need to consider a more frequent measure. 

"Most commentators had expected inflation to fall by at least half a percent, to around 6.5%. Instead, Stats NZ has reported just a 0.1% drop to 7.2%, meaning inflation is still very much embedded in our economy. 

"Many central banks, including the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve use monthly CPI updates, and it’s time New Zealand looks at the same approach. 

"Australia is introducing a monthly CPI indicator next week, ahead of their budget announcement, so we don’t have far to look for inspiration on more frequent inflation reporting," concluded Mr Vial.