Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe will get the opportunity this week to expand on his views on the war in the Ukraine and how it might impact the Australian economy and policy.
Dr Lowe will address the Australian Financial Review business summit on Wednesday.
Following last week's monthly RBA board meeting, Dr Lowe kept to the script of remaining patient before lifting the cash rate, but said Russia's invasion of the Ukraine is a major source of uncertainty.
The resulting rise in global crude oil prices to above $US100 per barrel from the conflict will add to already raging inflation around the world, and see local petrol prices set further record highs.
But the governor reiterated wages growth remains modest and it is likely to be some time yet before growth in labour costs is at a rate consistent with inflation being sustainably within the two to three per cent target.
AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver believes a combination of higher petrol and grain prices flowing from the Ukraine conflict will likely push annual Australian inflation to around five per cent by mid-year.
That compares with the RBA's forecast of 3.7 per cent and 3.5 per cent now.
He also expect underlying inflation to soar to 3.8 per cent by June, also well above target.
"As a result, we have brought forward our expectation for the first RBA rate hike to June," Dr Oliver said, who had previously expected a rise in the cash rate from a record low 0.1 per cent in August.
Dr Lowe reiterated the RBA's expectation of the unemployment rate falling below four per cent this year, an achievement not seen in some 50 years.
The ANZ job advertising report on Monday and the latest payroll jobs report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday will provide an update on that goal.
A series of confidence surveys this week will also gauge the mood of business and consumers faced with rising fuel costs and the uncertainty surrounding eastern Europe, as well as the floods on the Australian east coast.
The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index - a pointer to future household spending - is due on Tuesday.
It fell 2.6 per cent last week as the war began and petrol prices set another record high, while consumer inflation expectations also struck a fresh seven-year high of 5.2 per cent.
National Australia Bank's monthly business survey is also due on Tuesday, while the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey is released on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Australian shares look set to recoup some of Friday's loses, even as Wall Street remained the under cloud of the Ukrainian war and despite an upbeat jobs report.
Australian share futures rose 28 points, or 0.39 per cent to 7119.
On Friday the Australian benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 40.6 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 7110.8 points.
In the US the S&P 500 lost 34.97 points, or 0.76 per cent, at 4,330.16 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 168.54 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 33,626.12, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 217.52 points, or 1.64 per cent, to 13,320.42.
The US Labour Department said jobs grew by a more than expected 678,000 last month and that the unemployment rate fell to 3.8 per cent, the lowest since February 2020.
