ANZ National announced mortgage rate hikes late on Friday ahead of next Thursday's decision by the Reserve Bank on its official cash rate (OCR). ANZ National raised many of its fixed mortgage rates by 20-30 basis points. It left its variable mortgage rates unchanged. Fixed mortgage rates have been rising in recent weeks in expectation the Reserve Bank will begin raising the OCR fast from early 2010. The Reserve Bank is expected to announce on Thursday it will drop its pledge to hold the OCR at or below 2.5% until the latter part of 2010 because of a faster rebound in the economy and the growing risk of inflation beyond 2010. Economists and markets are expecting the OCR to be closer to 4.5% by the end of 2010, implying fixed mortgage rates closer to 9% than their current 6-7%. See all bank mortgage rates here.
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