ASB has opened the rate hike floodgates after a week long stand-off between banks following the OCR increase of 25 basis points to 2.75% last week.
ASB has hiked its floating and six-month rates by 25 basis points to 6.00% and 6.10% respectively and it has also increased its one-year rate by 10 basis points to 6.45%. The increases put these rates above the medians for the major banks. BankDirect, Sovereign and NZ Home Loans have all made the same increases.
It is expected that other major retail banks will now follow suit.
