WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to its highest in over a decade in the third quarter, beating expectations, according to data released by Statistics New Zealand on Monday.
CPI rose 2.2% in the quarter ending September from 1.3% in the second quarter, the biggest quarterly movement since a 2.3%rise in the December 2010 quarter.
Annual inflation rose 4.9% compared to 3.3% in the previous quarter.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a rise of 1.4% for the quarter, with an annual rise of 4.1%.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; editing by Diane Craft)