Some not-so-welcome news today for those planning to borrow money for their Christmas shopping this year.

For the seventh time in 2022, the Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate, this time by 50 basis points to 4.25 per cent.

Aaron Ruston with Purposed Financial Corp. in Moose Jaw says the increase was anticipated, it was just a matter of whether it would be 25 basis points or 50.

"I hope it does have some effect in slowing inflation down and it seems like the inflationary numbers are dropping overall," he commented. "This was an anticipated move and there probably will be another one in the early new year."

He notes the move will have a big impact on people who are on a tight budget.

"Those that have fixed-rate mortgages, it's not going to impact them at this point, however those that have variable rates like lines of credit or mortgages or other borrowing vehicles, it will impact them and they're going to see their payments go up. This is why we always stress that one of the best investments you can make, particularly in an environment where interest rates are rising, is to pay that debt down."

With consumers borrowing money for Christmas shopping, Ruston says there's going to be a lot of economic flow of cash. He adds the expected interest rate increase in January or February will put a lot more stress on consumers.