The Reserve Bank of Australia has said the ongoing war in the Middle East is creating "substantial risks" for the economy and inflation in its decision to raise the cash rate on Tuesday. Australia's consumer price index (CPI) — a measure of the percentage change in the price of various household goods and services — could continue to sit above the bank's target for some time, economists have warned. At its March meeting, the bank's board voted in a five-to-four decision to raise the official cash rate from 3.85 per cent to 4.1 per cent, a move that banks and economists widely anticipated.