CPI weaker-than-expected at 0.4pc in Q1, gives RBA more room to cut rate CONSUMER prices rose by a weaker-than-expected 0.4 per cent in the first quarter and were up 2.5 per cent from a year earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. Economists had expected consumer prices to rise 0.7 per cent in the quarter and 2.8 per cent from a year earlier. Australia's central bank targets an inflation rate of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.