Carbon tax had little impact on CPI:Swan
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January 23 2013, 1:26PM
The figures showed inflation was contained, serving as a reminder of Australia's "strong economic fundamentals".
"The government's fiscal discipline has contributed to contained inflation giving the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) room to move to cut the cash rate by something like 175 basis points over the year," Mr Swan said.
The treasurer compared the result with the figures seen at the end of the last Liberal government where underlying inflation "was pushed to its highest level in 16 years and where reckless spending pushed up the inflation rate to more than double what we see today".
Mr Swan said while you would rather be in Australia than any other developed economy, the efforts being made to boost global growth in both the United States and Japan are welcome.
"The efforts by the monetary authorities in the United States and Japan are directed towards increasing global growth and increasing global growth is what we need to do for the prosperity of the global economy," he said.
"What is good for the global economy is always good for our economy."