New inflation figures are expected to show the biggest quarterly jump in almost four years as a result of rising energy costs.
If that happens it will be a harsh reminder for households already struggling with slow wage growth and high debt levels.
Treasury boss John Fraser and his department can expect to be grilled about price pressures and the economic outlook more generally when he faces a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
There are also likely to be questions about the Turnbull government’s national energy guarantee, a plan that is being promoted as providing a reliable source of electricity while cutting household bills by as much as $115 a year.
No modelling to back such claims has been released.
Economists expect the consumer price index rose by around 0.8 per cent in the September quarter, the largest inflation rise since December 2013.
Such an increase would lift the annual rate to the bottom end of the Reserve Bank’s two to three per cent inflation target band from 1.9 per cent previously.
The more interest-rate sensitive underlying measures of inflation – which smooth out volatile price swings – are expected to average a rise of 0.5 per cent.
This would produce a 12-monthly rate of around two per cent and of little immediate threat to the interest rate outlook.
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