Record strength El Niño could mean bigger supermarket bills for Australians, experts warn

RBA officials are concerned a severe El Niño could drive food prices higher and create a further headache later this year, when the central bank is contemplating whether it needs to hike interest rates again. Photograph: Sam Mooy/AAP

The most severe El Niño weather event on record threatens to push food prices higher this year, experts say, piling pressure on households already struggling with the post-pandemic spike in grocery bills and complicating the Reserve Bank’s efforts to bring inflation back under control.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast El Niño will peak in late spring or summer and “reach levels above the warmest observed since reliable records began in 1950”.