
Banks urged to bass on interest rate with no delay
Banks have been urged to immediately pass on relief to borrowers after the Reserve Bank cut the cash rate at its February meeting.
While the major banks followed, there is a lag period before the new rate comes into effect for borrowers.
Employment Minister Murray Watt said he wanted there to be no delay in passing the cut onto consumers.
“I think the big four banks should be passing on this rate cut ASAP. Not one day in making that happen because I think Australians really deserve this rate cut,” he told Seven.
Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume, who was also on the Sunrise panel, agreed. She also stressed she wanted clarity on what would happen with deposit rates for savings accounts.
‘Too little, too late’: Coalition’s blunt assessment of rate cut
Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor has also been out this morning, describing the RBA’s rate cut as “welcome relief” that’s come “too little, too late” for mortgage holders.
“We know it’s a long journey back to the standard of living [Australians] had when Labor came to power,” he says.
“This is a long journey back and there’s a lot of pain to go.”
Does the Coalition frontbencher think the RBA handed the government the momentum to call an earlier than expected election?
Taylor repeats that there is “a lot of pain out there”.
“At the end of the day, the hard work even to get this cut has been done by Australian families, not by the government,” he says.
👋 Good morning
Hi friends,
Welcome to our politics blog. Courtney Gould from the ABC’s Parliament House team here to guide you through the day.
I’m limbering up for a morning of following Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his Coalition counterpart Angus Taylor around as they make their pitch to voters following yesterday’s RBA rate cut.
It’s going to be thrilling, dear readers. So buckle in!