ANZ Bank has followed National Australia Bank in raising interest
rates for some of its business customers, also increasing rates on some
lines of credit.
Blaming higher funding costs and tougher
regulation, ANZ is raising rates on various business overdraft and term
loans by 0.21 percentage points.
The move will affect small to
medium businesses, and the actual rate customers pay will depend on the
exact loan product they have.
Interest rates for lines of credit
secured against residential property – loans that are often used by home
owners to fund renovations – will increase by 0.27 percentage points,
to 5.98 per cent.
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"Bank funding costs have been rising since May last year in
anticipation of an increase in US interest rates by Federal Reserve,"
ANZ said.
"These higher funding costs are now locked in for the
foreseeable future and while we have worked hard to absorb as much as
possible, we now have no choice but to pass on some of the higher cost."
It also referred to rising capital requirements for banks, saying regulatory costs continued to increase.
The
move follows this week's news that NAB, the country's biggest lender to
business, is also raising business interest rates by as much as 0.29
percentage points.
Rival bankers estimate that NAB's move will
cover the majority of its business loan book, which is seen as the
"jewel" in the crown for the Melbourne-based lender.
Given the big banks' tendency to match each other's pricing, there is speculation other banks will follow NAB and ANZ's move.
Westpac and Commonwealth Bank said their interest rates were always under review.
The
two rate hikes come after an increase in banks' wholesale funding
costs, which have returned to near two-year highs as credit markets grow
more cautious.
It also follows a lift in business demand for
loans in recent months, with the annual rate of business credit growth
lifting to more than 6 per cent in each of the last three months, its
quickest pace since early 2009.
