The disposable income of the average family that shops in Asda will have almost halved between April and September this year, according to the Wal-Mart-owned retailer’s calculations.

Thought to be the effect of five interest rate rises, Asda estimates that the disposable income of the average "Asda family" in the autumn will be just £80 a month, compared to £146 in April.

Asda's assessment comes as food retailers engage in a new round of price cuts to cater for shoppers' reduced budgets. Supermarkets have cut prices by more than £500 million in the last month, and are once again putting price at the centre of their marketing agendas.

Asda says the average Asda family has a monthly take-home income of £1,588 and a mortgage of £75,000. It calculates monthly mortgage repayments for those families with tracker schemes will have increased from £510 in April to £570 in the autumn. The average household will also see petrol costs rise from £112 to £118 over the period.

Once utility bills, food, clothing, council tax, insurance and car costs are taken into account, Asda estimates that disposable income will be down to £80 by the autumn. In an internal document seen by The Sunday Telegraph, the retailer points out that this amounts to less than half the cost of a standard open return rail ticket from Leeds to London.

Asda and Tesco launched tit-for-tat price cuts at the end of last month and rivals, such as Sainsbury's, have followed suit.

The British Retail Consortium, the industry's trade body, has warned that this month's interest rate rise was "an increase too far". The group believes there is more impact yet to be felt from the interest rate rises, which it says will hit sales and consumer confidence further.

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