In a 36Kr report, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock said the Middle East conflict’s impact on global energy prices, the AI boom and extreme weather could put pressure on some commodity prices. Together with domestic capacity constraints and weak productivity growth, these factors could leave Australian inflation above the bank’s August forecast. Recent inflation has remained between 3.5% and 4%, above the 2%–3% target range. The Monetary Policy Committee will meet next week to assess whether this year’s 100 basis points of rate increases are sufficient to return inflation to target.