Economists are divided over the probability of an April rate rise by the Reserve Bank. NAB is expecting the RBA to act quickly to increase the cost of funds.
CBA believes that The Reserve Bank has set the scene for a gradual policy tightening of the money supply.
There are nine monetary policy meetings to come this year, RBA is likely to increase rates in at least 4 of these.
The current cash rate set by the RBA in March is 4.0 per cent. Retail variable mortgage are two to three per cent above that. Another 1.0 per cent on average mortgage repayments on a loan of about $300,000 could take monthly repayments up by more than $200 to $2173 per month.