AUSTRALIA’S second biggest home loan lender Westpac has raised its standard variable lending rate by almost double the amount of the central bank’s increase.
Westpac said it would increase its standard variable home loan rate by 45 basis points 6.76 per cent, effective this Friday.
The Reserve Bank earlier today increased its base cash interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent.
“The interest rate changes Westpac has announced today reflect the continuing cost pressures we are experiencing in wholesale funding markets as well as an increase in the official RBA cash rate,” Westpac head of retail and business banking Peter Hanlon said in the statement.
“Both components, along with the higher rates we are paying on customer deposits, contribute to our increasing average funding costs.
“These changes are regrettable, however, Westpac has withheld passing on the full amount of the increased funding costs we have experienced to ensure we could continue to support our customers through the economic downturn.”