The latest official inflation figures will be released today covering January-March, and chat about it will feature in every coffee queue, elevator, and friends catch-up today. Look, that might be overstating things, but it is a bit of a moment… Prices are expected to have risen by 4.6% over the last year, which would be the highest since the global financial crisis in the late noughties. Note: the Reserve Bank wants inflation at 2-3%. The rise in prices is being driven by big jumps in the cost of fuel, as well as housing and food. COVID, the floods and the war in Ukraine have a lot to answer for… If today’s figures show that inflation is galloping away, the Reserve Bank will be under pressure to lift interest rates when its board meets next week. And because we’re in an election campaign, that’s a bit of an issue because it can damage the government’s chances of reelection. Told you it’s a belter…