ANZ hikes rates, slashes fees
ANZ has become the second bank in as many weeks to move out of cycle with the RBA.
Yesterday the major lifted its standard variable mortgage rate and business lending rates by 0.39 per cent – well above the RBA’s 25 basis point cash rate hike, but just shy of CBA’s 0.45 per cent rate increase.
The bank's variable interest rate has now risen to 7.8 per cent.
Speaking about ANZ’s rate hike decision, the bank’s chief executive officer Phil Chronican said the major had now recovered its higher funding costs and more rises were unlikely.
“The intense competition for deposits and high wholesale funding costs is very real and has continued to increase the average cost of lending. ANZ’s fortunate however that these pressures are less pronounced because of our funding diversity, particularly our ability to grow deposits in Asia,” he said.