New Zealand's consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5% in the fourth quarter compared to 0.7% in the previous quarter, beating analyst estimates, as rent, petrol and airfare costs increased, data released by Statistics New Zealand on Friday showed.
Annual inflation for the fourth quarter of 2019 was 1.9% compared with 1.5% in the previous year period. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast inflation of 0.4% for the quarter, taking annual inflation to 1.8%.
The inflation data was higher than Reserve Bank of New Zealand's (RBNZ) forecast a 0.2% rise in quarterly CPI.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Sandra Maler)
