(Updates with interest rate hike announcements from
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ and Westpac; adds
background)
March 9 (Reuters) - Australia's so-called 'Big Four'
banks said on Thursday they would pass on the central bank's
latest quarter-percentage point interest rate hike in full to
their home loan customers.
The move comes as the lenders continue to move in lockstep
with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which raised its
official cash rate by a widely expected 25 basis points (bps) to
3.6% on Tuesday.
Among the top four lenders, the Commonwealth Bank of
Australia , National Australia Bank , and ANZ
Group Holdings will hike their rates from March 17,
while Westpac Banking Corp's will hike its rates from
March 21, the banks said in separate statements.
Interest rates in the country have already gone up by 350
bps since last May, when they were at an all-time low of 0.1%.
However, RBA Governor Philip Lowe said the central bank was
closer to pausing its aggressive cycle of rate increases as
policy was now in restrictive territory, and suggested a halt
could come as soon as April.
(Reporting by Navya Mittal and Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru;
Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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