Australia Inflation - Tomatoes soared 20%, bananas, grapes & sweet potatoes up 10%

Tomato prices soared 20 percent in the past week and bananas, grapes and sweet potatoes are up 10 percent, said Maurice Sorace, owner of Sylvania Best Fresh, who gets about a third of his fruit and vegetables from flood-ravaged Queensland state. “Prices will be higher in the next week” as the deluge drowns more crops and clogs roads, he said.

The crisis may force the RBA to accept higher inflation in coming months as the floods spur food and commodity costs and slow growth in a disaster zone the size of Egypt. A gauge of inflation in the bond market showed the expected rate surpassing the RBA’s target as the damage, along with future rebuilding in a country already near full employment, risked stoking prices. More...