Tag: Interest Rates

National Australia Bank reassured customers again today it would not move its standard variable interest rate beyond any change the RBA makes to the official cash rate today.

Australian shoppers are yet to resume spending since the global financial crisis, with many concerned over the security of their jobs as the economy recovers.

Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Philip Lowe has warned of a return to pre-GFC levels house cost spirals as the resources sector grows. RBA assistant governor Philip Lowe warned a conference in Sydney that over “the next couple of years” capacity constraints were looming, especially as the resource sector returns to pre-GFC levels of […]

Following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Board Meeting yesterday, National Australia Bank confirmed its variable home loan interest rates would increase by 0.25% per annum. NAB’s new standard variable rate will be 6.74% pa, effective Friday, 5 March 2010. Lisa Gray, Group Executive NAB Personal Banking, said: “In the last month we have seen a […]

The Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia decided today to raise the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.0 per cent, effective tomorrow. The global economy is growing, and world GDP is expected to rise at close to trend pace in 2010 and 2011. The expansion is still hesitant in the major countries, due […]

Australia’s current account deficit came in worse than expected at a seasonally adjusted $17.46 billion in figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Most economists had expected a deficit of $17.1 billion for the December quarter. The ABS says this could subtract 1.3 percent from Australia’s economic growth figures for the quarter. With GDP figures […]

New building approvals in Australia were down 7 percent in January,  to 14,045 from 15,106 units in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said Today. Over the longer term, building approvals were up 47.6 percent in the year to January. This news comes as the RBA prepares to make another decision on whether to […]

Interest rates are expected to stay on hold with quarterly wage growth easing in the December quarter, seasonally adjusted. With total hourly rates of pay, excluding bonuses, rising just 0.6 percent. Coming in under the market forecast of 0.8 percent. The wage price index rose 2.9 per cent from a year earlier in Australian Bureau […]

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) are expected to hand down their interest rate decision today, amidst frenzied speculation of a guaranteed rise that will see many homeowners and small businesses feeling the pinch. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has backed Treasurer Wayne Swan’s warning to financial institutions that there is no excuse for raising interest […]

Commonwealth Bank has announced it will increase its standard variable home loan interest rate by 37 basis points, in a move that is set to send ripples through the banking industry. Westpac came under fire earlier this week for lifting their rates to almost double the increase the Reserve Bank stipulated, while National Australia Bank […]