Canberra, May 31 (IANS): Latest data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday revealed that the country;s inflation rate rose by 6.8 per cent in the year to April and the main drivers were increase in fuel and housing prices.

It is compared to the 6.3 per cent increase in the 12 months to March, but remains lower than the 8.4 per cent recorded in December 2022, reports Xinhua news agency.

The spike was largely driven by an increase in fuel prices after the end of the temporary cut in the government's fuel excise tax.

"Automotive fuel prices were 9.5 per cent higher this month than they were in April 2022 when prices fell following the 22 cents per liter cut in the fuel excise introduced on March 30, 2022," Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, said in a media release.

In the same period, the prices of housing, food and transport all rose by over 7 per cent.

New dwelling price rose by 9.2 per cent, the smallest annual figure since February 2022 as the cost of building materials continued to fall in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The data will be a key factor when the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decides on interest rates at its next meeting early in June.