Mortgage Rates Daily Commentary
Monday 15 December 2025
ANZ too hikes rates; Kiwibank says the RBNZ stuffed up its communications last week
ANZ has followed Westpac and increased interest rates of terms of 18 months or more. It too blames rising wholesale r rates.
Grant Knuckey, managing director for Personal Banking, said the increases in fixed rates were a response to recent rises in wholesale interest rates.
“Since our last fixed rate reduction on October 17, wholesale interest rates have risen significantly, increasing by 33 to 77 basis points for terms 12 months and longer.”
This follows the Reserve Bank’s latest cut to the Official Cash Rate, when it signalled a pause in the easing cycle, indicating the OCR would remain at 2.25% for the foreseeable future.
“Changes to the OCR affect floating mortgage rates more directly. Changing expectations about future OCR decisions influence wholesale rates, causing fixed mortgage rates to go up or down,” Knuckey said.
In the News Kiwibank is arguing the medicine, lower interest rates, is working to fix the sick economy. (Even though they are now rising).
Interesting, Jarrod Kerr says the RBNZ is "at the centre of some confusion" over interest rates.RBNZ is "at the centre of some confusion" over interest rates.
Here is what Kiwibank is saying.
When free is not really free
BNZ pulls its Global Plus advertising because it's misleadingin
Wednesday, June 28th 2000, 12:00AM
by Paul McBeth
The Bank of New Zealand decided to pull all its ads for the Global Plus Home Loan last month after someone complained the ads were misleading.
A person, O Rodgers, complained to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board that BNZ was advertising that people could get free overseas trips by switching their mortgage to Global Plus and earning airpoints on their repayments.
Rodgers said the ads, which featured on television, the Internet, in newspapers and in direct mailouts, were misleading as they did not disclose the $400 application fee and the $50 joining fee that were specific to Global Plus.
"And where fine print contained some of the special conditions, it was either too small or buried and likely to be missed."
BNZ told the board that it would withdraw all the TV ads and not screen them again in their current forms. Likewise, print ads in newspaper and brochures form would no longer be published in their current form, and all references to "free" would be deleted from the website.
The board ruled, in its written decision, that the matter was now settled.
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
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