BORROWERS receive a reprieve from a further squeeze on their budgets for at least another month after the Reserve Bank left the cash interest rate unchanged.
The majority of economists and analysts had expected the central bank to lift the cash rate to 4.75 per cent from its current 4.5 per cent.
Industry analysts believe that if the Reserve Bank lifts the base rate by 0.25 percentage points, the banks could increase mortgage rates as much as 0.45 percentage points.
That would add about $90 a month to repayments on the average $300,000 mortgage.
Earlier today, retail trade at current prices rose 0.3 per cent in August to a seasonally adjusted $20.464 billion, from an upwardly revised $20.405 billion in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said.
It was broadly in line with the median market expectation for a 0.4 per cent rise in the month.
ABS data also showed Australia had a $2.3 billion trade surplus in August, which also matched expectations.
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