Rates rise for the fourth time in fifteen months. Borrowers have been slugged their first increase in loan repayments for the year - and their fourth in fifteen months - after the Reserve Bank lifted its cash rate by a quarter-point to 6.5 per cent this morning. And their could be more pain on the way with econimists tipping another rate rise as soon as the end of the year or early next year. JP Morgan chief economist Stephen Walters said he expected another rise in December, with clear evidence of robust domestic economic growth and a "likely acceleration in headline inflation in coming quaters." "In particular, food and energy prices are rising sharpl;y owing to the drought, crude oil prices remain elevated, and the booming domestic economy continues to bump up against capacity constraints, which the long investment boom has only partly alleviated," Mr Walters said. The widely tipped decision means the cash rate sites at its highest level since December 1996. Banks are expected to pass on the rate rise to customers as soon as today or tomorrow, moves that will see the average standard variable mortgage rate jump to 8.32 per cent. The Age, Peter Litras and Vanessa Burrow, August 8 2007
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