CBA, Westpac slash fixed mortgage rates
(10 August 2011 – Australia) The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) slashed its fixed mortgage rate by up to 60 basis points on Tuesday.
CBA, which faces stiff competition from local rivals such as National Australia Bank, said its new fixed rates for loans from one to 5 years would now range from 6.59 percent to 6.99 percent, the lowest of any of the four big local banks.
'Many customers want certainty with their home loan repayments and we are pleased to take a lead and offer customers that peace of mind,' Commonwealth Bank's head of retail banking services, Ross McEwan, said in a statement.
The bank's move to cut its fixed-rate mortgages came after some of the heaviest falls in global share markets in three years, which have stoked fears of a double-dip US recession and a global economic slowdown.
The news knocked almost half a cent off the already-battered Australian dollar, reinforcing market assumptions that the central bank would be forced to abandon its tightening bias and instead opt for a near-term rate cut to support the economy.
Westpac later said it was cutting its three-year fixed mortgage rate by 20 basis points to 6.79 percent.
'Many customers want certainty with their home loan repayments and we are pleased to take a lead and offer customers that peace of mind,' Commonwealth Bank's head of retail banking services, Ross McEwan, said in a statement.
The bank's move to cut its fixed-rate mortgages came after some of the heaviest falls in global share markets in three years, which have stoked fears of a double-dip US recession and a global economic slowdown.
The news knocked almost half a cent off the already-battered Australian dollar, reinforcing market assumptions that the central bank would be forced to abandon its tightening bias and instead opt for a near-term rate cut to support the economy.
Westpac later said it was cutting its three-year fixed mortgage rate by 20 basis points to 6.79 percent.
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