2 May 2023
The RBA continues to address the nation’s inflation challenge with today’s 0.25% increase.
Last week’s inflation figures showed a 1.4% increase for the March quarter. This is a 7% increase in the past year which indicates the cost-of-living challenge faced by Australian households.
The ABA encourages those customers who are concerned about their financial situation to shop around to find the most suitable deal for their individual needs. Competition in the banking sector is strong and record levels of mortgage refinancing continues.
Banks strongly encourage any customers experiencing financial difficulty to reach out to access bank support services and to do so as early as possible. Bank support teams are also proactively communicating with those customers at risk.
Australians have record levels of savings sitting in deposit and offset accounts while arrears remain at low levels. In April 2023 the value of household deposits on the books of ADIs grew for the 23rd month in a row, to $1.37 trillion.
At $244b, there is now more sitting in mortgage offset accounts than ever before. In fact, there has been a growth of 42 per cent since December 2019 (Figure 2).
The value of non-performing loans (i.e. those 90+ days in arrears) fell in the last quarter of 2022, while loans 30-89 days past due has increased slightly, though remained below pre-COVID levels (Figure 3). The proportion of non-performing loans relative to the housing portfolio now sits at 0.59 per cent, down from 0.62 per cent in the September quarter and 0.79 per cent in December 2019.
Latest news
Tom Connell Those people with a home loan who have had a fixed rate are getting a shock as they come off that fixed rate. Often as low as two percent and onto the new variable rate that can be as high as six or even seven percent. So how is that affecting people out… Read more »
Australians facing difficult financial decisions are being reminded to get in touch with their bank and get the support they need to keep repayments on track. The Australian Banking Association (ABA) is extending its ‘don’t tough it out on your own’ campaign which was launched last year, with a further round of advertisements to run… Read more »
Steve Austin Well as you know, the Commonwealth Government has made it clear they consider access to cash a priority for the Australian economy and the country’s largest banks, as well as Coles, Woolworths, companies like Wesfarmers and Australia Post have been trying to put together a short term lifeline for Armaguard, who’s the company… Read more »