26.07.201800:36:00UTC+00Australia Q2 Import Prices Rise More Than Expected

Australia's import prices increased at a faster-than-expected pace in the three months ended June, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

The import price index climbed 3.2 percent sequentially in the second quarter, faster than the 2.0 percent rise in the first quarter. It was the third consecutive quarterly increase.

That was above the 1.9 percent rise economists had forecast.

The increase was driven by higher prices paid for petroleum, petroleum products and related materials, general industrial machinery, electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances.

On a yearly basis, imports prices grew at a faster rate of 6.0 percent in the June quarter, after a 2.6 percent gain in the March quarter.

Data also revealed that export prices grew 1.9 percent quarterly and by 6.6 percent yearly in the June quarter.