Cost of living rises again — fuel blamed

Prices across Aotearoa rose 4.1 percent over the past year, the biggest increase in more than two years, StatsNZ says. Finance Minister Nicola Willis blames higher fuel costs — a "Trump spike" — for most of it. Without petrol and diesel rises, she says the increase would have stayed within the Reserve Bank's target range. Power prices rose 12 percent and rates 9 percent.