The head of the Reserve Bank of Australia has flagged further rate rises in coming months.
However, RBA governor Philip Lowe noted the case for a slower pace of tightening was becoming "stronger" as the cash rate level rises.
"But how high interest rates need to go and how quickly we get there will be guided by the incoming data and the evolving outlook for inflation and the labour market," he told the Anika Foundation in Sydney on Thursday.
Dr Lowe's speech follows another 50 basis point lift in the cash rate on Tuesday to tame soaring inflation.
It was the fifth interest rate hike since May.
The central bank boss also used the opportunity to explain the board's "very large forecast miss" to foresee the surge in inflation.
"Forecast misses of this scale should lead to soul-searching by forecasters and they certainly have at the RBA," he said.
He noted that the central bank was not the only one with inaccurate predictions.
"Some forecasters were certainly expecting higher inflation than we were, but the magnitude of the pick-up in inflation has taken everybody by surprise," he said.
Dr Lowe laid out the reasons for the unexpected lift in inflation, starting with Russia's invasion of Ukraine limiting the production of energy.
He also said there was a surge in demand for goods at a time when COVID was interrupting production and therefore supply.
"The result was that many industries quickly found themselves on the sharply upward sloping part of the supply curve, and prices increased."
Dr Lowe said the home building sector was a good example of this trend.
"Very strong demand in this sector - partly due to low interest rates and government grants totalling up to $35,000 for some first home buyers - came up against COVID-related problems on the supply side," he said.
"The result was a big jump in prices, which has had a material impact on the overall inflation rate in Australia."
