The Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest figures show credit card debt rose by 2.16 per cent in February; its slowest growth rate in more than a decade.

Credit card debt and transactions totaled $43.25 billion for the month, up from $42.34 billion in January.

According to RBA’s latest findings, the average Australian credit card balance in February was $3,085, while February’s credit card repayments fell almost 8 per cent to $16.77 billion.

Economists say these figures show that higher interest rates are forcing consumers to reign in spending, as the cost of borrowing rises. Meanwhile CommSec’s equities economist Savanth Sebastian says that he expected the slowdown to continue in coming months, as consumers shun more expensive forms of debt.