21 Jul 2010

Interest rate rise hurting households - survey

6:10 pm on 21 July 2010

Almost half of the country's households are being hurt by rising interest rates, and more than a third of them plan to use their credit card to pay their bills, a survey shows.

The survey of 1,000 people by credit reporting agency Dun & Bradstreet looks at what people expect to spend and save in the period up to September and how much debt they have.

General manager John Scott says 46% of respondents say the Reserve Bank's decision to start putting up interest rates will have hurt their finances.

Mr Scott says a fifth of respondents expect their debts to rise in the next three months.

He says women, the middle-aged, and more wealthy households are feeling the pinch the most, and will rely on credit cards to pay for expenses.