Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has again urged unhappy borrowers to vote with their feet and switch banks in search of a better deal.

Mr Swan’s comments follow a warning from Commonwealth Bank chief Ralph Norris that further hikes to mortgage rates were likely because of ongoing increases in the cost of funding in global credit markets.

The major commercial banks in Australia have all raised their standard variable rates during the past two weeks, independent of any action on the part of the central bank.

Mr Swan today said he was worried about the impact on households and businesses of the global credit crunch and the additional rate rises over and above movements in the official cash rate that it had brought.

“That’s unfortunate where people have had to bear eight official interest rate rises in a row and these further increases in borrowing costs,” Mr Swan told Sky News.

The government’s bank-switching package, which would be in place by November, would help people switch lenders if they were unhappy, he said.

“What we can do is make sure we give people the maximum amount of choice. That’s the most important thing we can do.

“And the other thing we are doing is to put maximum downward pressure on inflation via our budget process, to take the pressure off those households out there affected in the short and longer term.”

AAP