Borrowers should expect more interest rate rises despite the Reserve Bank of Australia indicating rates are on hold.
Since late last year individual lenders have pushed up their interest rates on top of the "official'' increases by the RBA and it seems lenders are not going to stop doing this.
St George Bank put its mortgage rates up by 0.20% again on Friday and there is likely to be more to come, regardless of the Reserve Bank's decisions.
This is because the finance and banking industry ultimately has the last say on interest rates. Although the Reserve Bank sets an official rate, it is up to each lender to decide what it will charge. And despite the Reserve Bank indicating last week it thinks consumer demand is coming under control, the banks and lenders have other issues to factor in which could still see rates go up again.