(4 March 2010 – Australia) Three of Australia’s largest banks have officially raised their standard variable mortgage rates after the Reserve Bank of Australia increased the cash rate 25 basis points to 4 percent earlier this week.ANZ followed the RBA within an hour of the Monetary Policy Committee releasing their decision on Tuesday afternoon, increasing their standard variable rate to 6.91 percent effective from Friday 5th March.
Westpac increased rates by the RBA’s limitations to 7.01 percent and CBA also moved by 25 basis points increasing its standard variable mortgage rate to 6.86 percent.
According to reports, within minutes of the Reserve Bank’s announcement Treasurer Wayne Swan sent a message to the banks that there was ‘absolutely no justification whatsoever for any increase over and above the official cash rate increase’.