Australia's Westpac and ANZ also resist mortgage pressures to lower mortgage rates

[2nd Reuters]-Australia's major Westpac Bank <WBC.AX> and Australia-New Zealand Bank (ANZ) <ANZ.AX> have reduced the floating interest rate on mortgages following the central bank's interest rate cut However, as with the other two major banks, it did not fully reflect the rate cut by the central bank.

The central bank's Australian Reserve Bank has decided to cut the official cash rate of the policy rate from 1.00% to 0.75%. In response, Treasury Minister Freidenberg said, “The government expects the bank to fully reflect the 25 basis point (bp) rate cut this time,” and urged banks to lower their lending rates.

However, analysts have warned that the central bank's three rate cuts this year and expected additional rate cuts will put more pressure on the net interest margin (NIM) of domestic banks.

Westpac announced a 15 bp reduction in the mortgage's floating interest rate. ANZ plans to cut 14 bp.

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) <CBA.AX> and National Australian Bank (NAB) <NAB.AX>, which together with the two banks form the four largest banks, set the standard floating interest rate for residential mortgages several hours after the decision of the central bank. 13 bp and 15 bp are lowered respectively.