Rates Round Up

Bollard happy for banks to offer deposit deals; RaboPlus boosts term deposits after OCR review; RBNZ calls for submissions on rules for non-bank deposit takers

Sunday, 14 June 2009

Bollard happy for banks to offer deposit deals
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard told Parliament's finance and expenditure committee he was happy for banks to offer high rates for short-term deposits.

Those rates should be driven by the market, and he didn't expect it would keep short-term lending rates high, which was more symptomatic of the banks' need to attract offshore funds, he said.

Last week, both Bollard and the committee raised concerns banks weren't passing on cuts to the official cash rate in their short-term lending rates.

RaboPlus boosts term deposits after OCR review
RaboPlus was the first bank to lift its term deposit rates after the RBNZ held its official cash rate at 2.50%.

The bank raised one-year saving rates 20 basis points to 3.05%, two-year rates rose 25 bps to 4.1%, three-year returns increased 25 bps to 5.35%, four-year rates advanced 30 bps to 5.9%, and five-year deposits rose 30 bps to 6.4%.

RBNZ calls for submissions on rules for non-bank deposit takers
The central bank has called for submissions on the proposed prudential supervision of non-bank deposit takers.

The new regime will set the boundaries for deposit takers to manage their risks in taking deposits and will probably force greater disclosure among lenders.

The Reserve Bank will likely operate as the regulator of the prudential regime. Submissions close on June 29.

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