Australia’s biggest banks have yet to pass on the interest rate hike to customers two days after the initial announcement in a baffling move.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised interest rates on Tuesday for the fourth consecutive month.
Australia’s central bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points, or 0.5%, bringing the cash rate from 1.35% to 1.85% , largely in line with the economist’s predictions.
But Australia’s four biggest banks, the Commonwealth Bank (CBA), ANZ, NAB and Westpac, have so far made no announcement about the latest rate hike.
This is despite the fact, but they were quick to pass the money on to customers for the previous three months.
Since May, the cash rate has risen by 1.75 percentage points, following four months of consecutive hikes by the central bank, and so far it seems most Australians have broken even.
However, it is not clear how long the banks will remain silent on the rate hike. News.com.au has contacted all four for comment.
In stark contrast, just hours after the announcement, a smaller bank, Macquarie Bank, passed on the rate hike.
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Macquarie Bank said it would raise variable mortgage rates by 0.5% on August 12.
Fees for its savings and day-to-day transaction accounts also increased by 0.50%.
The move affects the estimated 2 million people who are Macquarie Bank customers.
However, CBA, ANZ, NAB and Westpac each have between 8.5 and 17 million customers, according to Statista.
Last month, Westpac gave customers the longest amount of time to prepare for a change to their variable mortgages as well as their savings rates, taking two weeks for the change to take effect, despite and that he announced the change within 24 hours.
The other three banks passed on the change to customers within 10 days after a quick response.
The August hike is not expected to be the last, with economists predicting that interest rates could rise to two percent by the end of the year.
Tuesday’s rate increase means those paying the average home loan of $500,000 will have to pay an extra $140 a month.
Tuesday’s decision is the first time the RBA has raised rates for four consecutive months since introducing the two-to-three per cent inflation target in 1990 as a sign of the inflation and cost crisis of life throughout the country.
This comes after last week’s rise in annual inflation to 6.1%, which was its highest level in 21 years since 2001.
Tuesday’s rate increase means those paying the average home loan of $500,000 will have to pay an extra $140 a month.