Sydney  - Jingling cash registers in Australian shops might entice the central bank to raise interest rates before the end of the year, analysts said Wednesday.

Retail sales in August were up more than 1 billion Australian dollars (860 million US dollars) year-on-year, prompting some economists to predict the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) could hike rates at its monthly meeting next week.

The RBA reduced the cost of borrowing by 4.25 percentage points between September 2008 and April 2009. Rates, independently set by the central bank, are now at a 49-year low of 3 per cent.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens said last week that interest rates "can be expected, at some point, to move off their current unusually low levels, as recovery proceeds."

Australian National Retailers Association chief executive Margy Osmond urged the RBA to hold fire for as long as possible, reasoning that consumer confidence "is not quite where we would want it to be." (dpa)