Aussie “Big Four” banks cut rates, mirroring central bank

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

(Reuters) – Australian “Big Four” lenders cut their interest rates by 25 basis points on Tuesday, in tandem with the central bank cutting its rates for the first time since November 2020.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.10%, saying progress had been made on inflation, though it remained cautious on further monetary policy easing.

The central bank’s cut was its first move since raising the rate to a 13-year high of 4.35% in November 2023.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country’s largest lender, said the change will be implemented on its eligible business lending products and would be effective from February 28.

The National Australia Bank said it would reduce the standard variable home loan interest rate by a quarter point, effective February 28.

Westpac, Australia’s oldest lender, also joined the bandwagon and cut its interest rates for home loan and deposit customers.

The home loan interest rate change will be effective from March 4, and will be applicable for both its new and existing customers, Westpac said.

ANZ Group said variable interest rates across the lender’s domestic home loans would be reduced by 25 basis points, effective February 28.

The country’s No. 4 bank also said it was reviewing other interest and deposit rates.

The financials sub-index lost nearly 1% with all the “Big Four” banks dropping.

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Mrigank Dhaniwala)