This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Commonwealth Bank has lifted its standard variable home loan interest rate by 12 basic points from 9.32% to 9.445% per annum.
The move by CBA follows the Reserve Bank’s decision last week to keep interest rates on hold.
The bank has also increased its basic variable home loan from 8.81% pa to 8.93% pa.
The new rates will be effective from April 09 for new and existing customers.
CBA’s group executive of retail banking services Ross McEwan said the Bank has absorbed a significant proportion of the increased funding costs that it has experienced since August 2007.
“For the four month period to December 31 2007, these increased costs amounted to around $100 million. Unfortunately, the volatility in global markets remains and we have seen funding costs continue to increase, particularly since February as funding from global markets has become tighter and as a result more costly.”
“Despite this latest increase, which can be directly attributed to the increased cost of funding experienced by all banks, we are still maintaining a balance between the needs of shareholders and customers by continuing to absorb a significant portion of the additional costs being incurred,” he added.
Last week, the National Australia Bank raised its standard variable home loan by nine basis points to 9.36%.
Currently, Westpac has the lowest rate at 9.27% followed by the ANZ Bank and St George Bank with 9.37%.
Australian Property Journal
