ANZ is again the first bank out of the starting blocks following this morning's increase to the Official Cash Rate (OCR) from the Reserve Bank.
As expected, the Reserve Bank has increased the OCR by 25 basis points to 3%, following on from last month's 25 basis points rise.
ANZ says it's increasing interest rates on its floating and flexible home loans and what it terms its headline deposit product, Serious Saver, by 25 basis points per annum. The moves see ANZ's carded floating home loan rate rise to 6.24%, and flexible rate to 6.35%. And the new Serious Saver rate will be 4.25%.
The new rates take effect from Monday - April 28 for floating rate lending, and May 12 for flexible rate lending and all existing lending. However, the increase to the Serious Saver rate won't take effect until May 1.
"While this means that interest costs for our floating and flexible home loan customers will increase, more than five times as many (more than 1.3 million customers) will benefit from increased interest rates on savings accounts held with ANZ," ANZ says.
ANZ's initial move mirrors what it did when the OCR was increased on March 13. It subsequently also increased term deposit rates. And here's an overview of how all banks reacted to the March OCR hike.
In its statement today ANZ also says retail interest rates are determined by a range of economic and market factors, of which the OCR is one.
"The cost of funding for lenders is also increasing, which has to be taken into account when setting interest rates."
"The Reserve Bank has signalled a series of OCR rises over the next couple of years as the economy gears up for a period of significant growth. This will further affect interest rates for New Zealand consumers. It would be sensible for anyone who has a home loan, or is considering one, to ensure their budget is structured so they can comfortably manage further increases in interest rates," says ANZ.
See all banks' carded, or advertised, home loan rates here.
ANZ also announced the changes below;
4 Comments
Always ....Banks behave like rats in a pantry when the OCR goes up .
One Bank is always quick off the mark , and the rest follow the price- setter very quickly.
Its like a feeding frenzy to make a quick buck .
The Bank's letters of notification to mortgagors will be in the mail before 6 pm this evening .
Its a very profitable business , because they get to earn the margin increase on each and every loan , with little impact until they increase deposit rates , which always lags
Banks know they only have a limited time to extract more from borrowers.
They are now confident property values will hold, so now can get those rates up.
The reason they allowed the rbnz to drop recently was due to fears of property going underwater.
Watch the nz domestic economy flatten out now.
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