(14 May 2012 – Australia) ANZ Bank cut the rate on its standard variable mortgage by 37 basis points on Friday, joining other banks in holding back some of last week’s rate reduction by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).The new mortgage rate for ANZ will be 7.05 percent, effective from 18 May. The bank did not disclosure its plans for deposit rates.
“At this month’s review we noted that the RBA’s recent decision to reduce the cash rate has impacted domestic funding sources giving us scope to reduce lending rates by 0.37 (percentage points),’ said ANZ CEO Australia Philip Chronican.
“We continue to work hard to ensure we are competitive despite sustained funding pressure driven by the high rates we are paying to our 2.9 million deposit customers relative to the Reserve Bank’s cash rate and the ongoing volatility in wholesale money markets,” he said.
ANZ is the last of the four major banks to announce its mortgage rate changes after the RBA cut 50 basis points from the cash rate on 1 May.
The RBA cut the official cash rate to 3.75 percent this month, from 4.25 percent, after weak inflation data indicated the economy’s growth had struggled at the end of last year.