HOMEOWNERS with variable interest mortgages copped another rate rise on Tuesday, and with grocery prices also expected to continue to rise, particularly vegetables, family budgets are continuing to feel the pinch.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) officially increased the cash rate by another fifty basis points, or 0.5 per cent to 0.85 per cent, which means repayments will increase, albeit depending on whether individual lenders decide to pass the interest rate rise onto customers.

Federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, told the ABC on Tuesday he acknowledged that households were already struggling financially with the rising costs of groceries, but the latest floods in NSW would damage crops and limit production and further push up prices, making it even more difficult.

He said the nation was presently facing a difficult combination of circumstances – natural disasters, inflation, and rising interest rates.

The treasurer said that finding room in household budgets for the essentials of life – whether fruit, vegetables and groceries, petrol prices, with the added pressure on supply chains compounded by labor shortages, was an increasing challenge.

Although south-west Victoria recently claimed the status as Australia’s largest agricultural producer, this is in part attributed to the ongoing natural disasters impacting food production in other parts of the country.

Food and Fibre Great South Coast chief executive, Natalie Collard, concurred food prices would be impacted by the NSW floods.

“These weather events impact food production, costs and availability, thus it can be expected that prices will continue to rise,” she said.