'Impossible to get ahead': Canberra inflation rate rises above national average

The ACT's inflation rate jumped to 4.7 per cent in the 12 months to September this year, and now sits above the national average of 4.3 per cent.And with the RBA expected to lift the cash rate again tomorrow to 4.85 per cent — the highest rate since the 2008 global financial crisis — many households are doing all they can to curb their costs.But for some Canberra business owners that means sales are down, with no end in sight."Nobody's out and about eating and obviously that hurts us," Casey Johnston, who runs a burrito business in Tuggeranong with her partner, said."This year has been pretty tough."Ms Johnston said she was used to business "fluctuating" in the hospitality sector, but sales were "a lot lower" than past years."I feel like our foot traffic, people walking along the street just to find somewhere to eat for dinner or lunch, is definitely declining," Ms Johnston said."People bring people in [with] small business, and when there is no people, people are not stopping by."As the cost of living continues to bite, Canberrans are cutting back on their discretionary spending. (ABC News: Mark Moore)Ms Johnston said they were also absorbing rising business costs including products and rent, rather than passing those costs onto customers."[It] is a hard battle because we can't increase our prices for our consumers, but we're definitely taking the hit of our products being more expensive ourselves," she said."We can't always afford wages and that kind of thing. "If people aren't here then the employment is not necessarily needed all the time, and that can make things really tricky."Interest rates projected to rise againDr John Hawkins said interest rates were predicted to continue rising. (ABC News: Luke Stephenson)Senior lecturer in economics at the University of Canberra Dr John Hawkins said global oil prices were the main driver for rising inflation rates.In the ACT specifically, the biggest drivers were fuel, electricity, childcare and school fees, new housing builds, and furniture, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics."You get these variations that are quite random," Dr Hawkins said."Our inflation's lower than Hobart, Darwin, and Adelaide, but it's a bit higher than Sydney and Melbourne."Dr Hawkins also warned the Reserve Bank of Australia was likely to once again hike up interest rates."There's an 80 per cent chance that [homeowners] will probably be paying 0.25 per cent more on their mortgages from tomorrow, and the financial markets think if the Reserve Bank doesn't move tomorrow, they'll probably move in either December or early next year," he said."Raising interest rates will lower inflation because it will slow down the economy."By raising interest rates, it'll make saving more attractive, so people will spend less and save more."Hairdresser Elanor said people tended to spread out their appointments these days. (ABC News: Luke Stephenson)Elanor, a hairdresser, said she has personally already cut down "literally everything" when it comes to discretionary spending."So no coffees out, no more expenditures," she said."Holidaying, going away, just being able to eat out — so not going out to restaurants, even though we've got all these beautiful restaurants and everything around us — no, I don't spend on that anymore."Elanor said her workplace's clientele base had largely remained the same, but people were booking hair appointments less frequently than they normally would."It is impossible to get ahead at the moment, especially here in Canberra," she said. "The cost of living is just skyrocketing."