ASB has moved to cut its three-year home loan rate by 10 basis points to 6.65 per cent, reinforcing the prospect of looming rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in the wake of lower-than-expected inflation levels.
According to the latest data from Statistics NZ, annual inflation fell to 4.7 per cent for the December quarter.
While that remains out of the central bank’s 1 to 3 per cent target range, there has been a widespread belief that rate cuts could come this year, given the general weakness in the NZ economy.
Earlier moves by the “big four” banks have seen its longer-term four- and five-year rates dip in past weeks by 20 basis points, from 6.75 per cent to 6.55 per cent.
The bank has also adjusted its longer-term deposit rates, narrowing them by between five and 20 points over 18-month- to 60-month terms.
