International factors The third issue that I would like to touch on is the role of international factors. Looking at headline inflation rates across countries over recent years, there is a deal of similarity in the movements (Graph 7).
Many countries in both Asia and the North Atlantic experienced increases in headline inflation rates in 2007 and 2008 and many experienced  4  For further details, see Plumb M and K Davis (2010), “Developments in Utilities Prices”, RBA Bulletin, December, pp 9–18. 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  declines in late 2008 and in 2009.