Reporting from Perth and Perth’s business coverage says the Reserve Bank is set to closely monitor upcoming data on underlying inflation. The main expectation is that inflation may rise even as fuel prices fall. The articles attribute the likely upward pressure to the way businesses pass through costs: higher fuel costs incurred earlier can continue to flow through to retail and service prices for a period, even when fuel prices themselves later decline. The focus is on the “underlying” inflation measure, which looks past short-term movements in volatile components, and is often used by the RBA to gauge the broader direction of inflation. The articles do not dispute that fuel prices are easing; instead, they argue that the timing of cost pass-through could mean headline inflation dynamics do not immediately reflect the lower fuel environment. Together, the sources indicate that the RBA’s decision-making will depend on how underlying inflation figures come in, and whether businesses continue to reflect earlier cost increases in consumer prices.