Westpac First Big Australian Lender to Raise Mortgage Rates
- Bank blames ‘step change’ in wholesale funding costs for rise
- Westpac shares gain; Australia dollar, bond yields decline
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Westpac Banking Corp. raised its key mortgage rate, the first of the nation’s biggest banks to decide passing on higher funding costs is worth the risk of further reputational damage.
Its variable standard home-loan rate for owner occupiers will rise 14 basis points to 5.38 percent, the Sydney-based lender said in a statement Wednesday. The move reflects “a sustained increase in wholesale funding costs,” the bank said.