The official cash rate will remain on hold at 3.6 per cent, after the Reserve Bank board agreed to make no change at its November meeting.

While households might have been holding out hope for an interest rate cut, the board's decision was largely expected by experts and the market.

Higher-than-expected quarterly inflation data , released in late October, firmed up predictions that the cash rate would remain on hold.

Headline annual inflation for the September quarter rose from 2.1 per cent to 3.2 per cent, exceeding the Reserve Bank's target band of 2 to 3 per cent for the first time in more than a year.

Underlying inflation, the central bank's preferred measure, rose on an annual basis from 2.7 per cent to 3 per cent.

The inflation jump led the major banks to revise their expectat

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