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An expected fall in consumer prices will be welcomed by households stretched thin by expensive goods and services.

But while economists foresee a sharp drop in headline inflation in the quarterly consumer price index being released on Tuesday, even a generous decline may not be enough to steer the reserve bank away from a May interest rate hike.

Consumer prices started surging last year due to global supply side issues, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and stimulus programs during the pandemic, but the Australian Bureau of Statistic's inflation quarterly index likely passed its peak last quarter.

A Reuters poll forecast a 1.3 per cent lift in headline inflation in the March quarter, down from a 1.9 per cent lift in the final three months of 2022.

On an annual basis, inflation is expected to sink to 6.9 per cent after hitting 7.8 per cent in the December quarter.

As well as signs of moderation in the monthly inflation gauge, St George senior economist Pat Bustamante said several one-off factors that drove last quarter's increase, such as the unwinding of state power subsidies and the fuel excise cut, and would not feature in the March edition.

But Mr Bustamante said the RBA, which opted to keep interest rates on pause last month after 10 consecutive hikes, will be on the lookout for a decent fall in core inflation.

Core inflation, which strips out large jumps and falls in prices, increased by 6.9 per cent in the year to December, its fastest pace in more than three decades.

The St George economist said the reserve bank would be hoping for a core inflation fall in line with its most up-to-date forecast.

"The closer the March quarter outcome is to the RBA's June forecast of 6.2 per cent, the more likely the RBA board will be satisfied that they have done enough tightening to ensure inflation is on track to decline to the target band of two-three per cent at the desired pace," he wrote in an analysis.

The RBA board is due to meet next Tuesday for its May cash rate decision.

© AAP 2023

Millions of Australians with chronic medical conditions will find it much cheaper to obtain medicines under a new measure to be included in next month's federal budget.

The government plans to allow people to buy two months' worth of subsidised medicines on a single prescription, rather than two separate prescriptions.

This means about six million Australians will pay for their medicines and spend less time traipsing back and forth to the doctor and pharmacy.

The change, due to kick in on September 1, is expected to deliver a budget saving, with patients needing fewer visits to the GP to get the common medicines they need.

The fiscal impact will be revealed in the budget to be handed down by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on May 9.

Hundreds of common medicines will become cheaper to access under the policy, which is largely aimed at those with chronic conditions who spend a lot on medication.

The more than 320 medicines on the list are for conditions such as heart disease, cholesterol, Crohn's disease and hypertension.

People could save up to $180 a year, if their medicine can be prescribed for 60 days rather than 30, or more if their other medicines qualify for the extended dispensing change.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee first floated the idea in 2018 when it investigated the clinical safety of allowing select PBS medicines for chronic conditions to be dispensed in bigger quantities.

The committee recommended lifting script refills from one month's supply to two months' supply per dispensing for common medicines.

But even with the change, Australia's medicine dispensing rules are still less flexible than other comparable nations, with New Zealand allowing a 90-day supply for chronic conditions and Canada 100 days.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the cost of living measure would address the issue of Australians delaying or going without medicines they need.

"Every year, nearly a million Australians are forced to delay or go without a medicine that their doctor has told them is necessary for their health," he said.

"This cheaper medicines policy is safe, good for Australians' hip pockets and most importantly good for their health."

Doctors will still be able to choose to write a prescription for a one-month supply for patients, rather than two.

The government says the change won't drive up demand for medicine or add to shortages.

But new polling for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia shows survey recipients are concerned about medicine shortages.

The poll of 2500 voters found about 80 per cent feared this could be the outcome if patients were able to double the medicines they can receive at once.

"We are calling on the federal government to reconsider," guild national president Trent Twomey said, adding the better option was to lower the PBS co-payment to $19, from $30.

Meanwhile, just weeks out from the Albanese government's second budget, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor has called on Dr Chalmers to lay down a path to bring the budget back to surplus.

The government should bank an expected commodity and income tax windfall and use it to lower the deficit, he said.

"If the government can't deliver a strong surplus with the current strong commodity prices and the strong economy left to it by the coalition, when will it ever deliver a surplus?"

Dr Chalmers has committed to absorbing most of the revenue bump from high commodity prices, but not to delivering a surplus.

© AAP 2023

US President Joe Biden says he will seek a second White House term in 2024, a decision that will test whether Americans are ready to give the 80-year-old Democrat another four years in office.

Biden made his announcement in a slickly produced video released by his new campaign team, in which he declares it is his job to defend American democracy.

It opens with imagery from the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump.

"When I ran for president four years ago, I said we're in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are," Biden said. "This is not a time to be complacent. That's why I'm running for re-election."

"Let's finish this job. I know we can," he said.

Biden described Republican platforms as threats to American freedom, vowing to fight efforts to limit women's healthcare, cut social security and ban books, while blasting "MAGA extremists".

MAGA is the acronym for the "Make America Great Again" political slogan of Trump, who may well be Biden's Republican opponent in the November 2024 election.

In the two years since he took over from Trump, Biden won Congress' approval for billions of dollars in federal funds to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and for new infrastructure, and oversaw the lowest levels of unemployment since 1969, although a 40-year high in inflation has marred his economic record.

Biden's age makes his re-election bid a historic and risky gamble for the Democratic Party, which faces a tough election map to hold the Senate in 2024 and is the minority in the House of Representatives now.

Biden's approval ratings were stuck at just 39 per cent in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on April 19 and there are steep concerns about his age among some Americans; he would be 86 by the end of a prospective second term, almost a decade higher than the average US male's life expectancy.

Doctors declared Biden, who does not drink alcohol and exercises five times a week, "fit for duty" after an examination in February. The White House says his record shows that he is mentally sharp enough for the rigours of the job.

Biden will be joined in his 2024 quest by his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Biden's entry into the race follows Trump's announcement in November that he would seek a second term after losing the 2020 contest to Biden.

In a statement about Biden's candidacy, Trump criticised the president over his record on immigration, inflation, and the US pullout from Afghanistan.

"American families are being decimated by the worst inflation in half a century. Banks are failing," Trump said on his social media platform.

"We have surrendered our energy independence, just like we surrendered in Afghanistan."

Biden, running as an incumbent, is unlikely to face much competition from inside his party. No senior Democrats have shown signs of challenging him and he has compiled a board of rising-star Democrats to advise his campaign, including governors JB Pritzker of Illinois and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.

Potential and declared Republican presidential candidates have begun framing the 2024 election around cutting back government spending amid still-high inflation, restricting abortion, crime in Democratic-run cities and illegal immigration.

The two leading Republican contenders, Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, want to limit the access of trans children to sports teams and gender-affirming medical care, and restrict how schools teach LGBTQ+ issues and America's history of slavery and racial disparities.

© RAW 2023