A pre-Christmas interest rate hike is considered unlikely but economists warn of the risk monetary policy will be tightened further given Reserve Bank of Australia concerns about inflation.
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Major banks NAB, ANZ and Westpac have announced they will pass the interest rate increase onto their variable rate borrowers, as well as select savings accounts.
RateCity analysis finds the average variable rate mortgage holder with a $500,000 loan will be slugged an extra $76 a month once the hike is passed on. The 13 rate hikes collectively have added $1210 - or 52 per cent - to monthly repayments.
Investors and many economists marked down the prospect of a further hike to 4.6 per cent in December.
But the reprieve for embattled borrowers might be short-lived, with several economists cautioning December quarter consumer price index figures due out on January 31 could clinch whether or not rates go higher.
Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis said that although there was a chance that interest rates have now peaked, risks of another hike remained.
Ms Ellis said she did not expect a December hike but the central bank appeared increasingly concerned inflation was not coming down as quickly as it had hoped.
The Westpac economist said a shift in the language used by RBA governor Michele Bullock indicated the central bank was "hoping not to have to raise rates again, but being very willing to do so if things change".
Commonwealth Bank chief economist Stephen Halmarick said his base case was that the central bank had tightened enough and would begin to lower rates from September next year.
"Our best guess is that it is the last one but the risk is for another one," Mr Halmarick said. "By February we will get the next CPI report and they will have a much better understanding of how consumers went over the Christmas-New Year period".
The CBA economist said household spending was resilient in the September quarter, driven in part by major events such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and football finals.
But he expected consumption in the lead-up to Christmas to be more subdued, which would help slow December quarter inflation.
Monash University economist Zac Gross, however, warned there could yet be a pre-Christmas rate hike if the wage price index for the September quarter, due out on November 15, showed strong or surging labour costs.
Despite Tuesday's rate increase, Australia's official cash rate remains significantly lower than those set by central banks in other jurisdictions including the United States, Canada, Britain and New Zealand, all of which are at 5 per cent or higher.
Mr Halmarick said the RBA appeared to be sticking to its strategy of keeping the cash rate lower than many of its peers in order to hold on to as many employment gains as possible.
The uncertain interest rate outlook comes as the pressure on the federal government to do more to combat inflation and provide cost-of-living relief intensifies.
Following the RBA's decision, Treasurer Jim Chalmers acknowledged that the latest rate hike would "make life harder for people who are already doing it tough" and said the government shared the central bank's goal to lower inflation "further and faster".
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But acting Opposition treasury spokesperson Jane Hume accused the government of exacerbating living cost pressures on families, claiming that government expenditure in areas such as infrastructure was adding to inflation, citing the multi-billion dollar Melbourne Suburban Rail Loop as an example of wasteful spending.
In Senate question time, Senator Hume pursued government ministers over the rising cost of food and asked what the government was doing to lower aggregate demand in the economy.
Dr Chalmers said the government was acting on several fronts in support of the Reserve Bank's efforts to lower inflation while assisting families, including by saving most of last financial year's revenue windfall, capping energy prices, subsidising child care and reducing prescription costs.
The treasurer said the government was also reviewing the timing of infrastructure projects given current cost blowouts.
While the government intended to deliver on its commitment to $120 billion of projects over 10 years, "there will be instances where we might need to re-sequence some of those commitments," he told ABC's 7.30 Report.
The International Monetary Fund has flagged federal, state and territory infrastructure investment as a possible inflation risk.