‘They couldn’t look any worse’: Why Westpac hiked interest rates

Westpac has decided to “go for broke” by hiking loan rates in the wake of the Banking Royal Commission, according to business journalist Terry McCrann.

He says it’s likely the other three banks will quickly follow suit.

McCrann told Ross and John the banks “couldn’t look any worse” after the revelations in the inquiry.

“They’ve been wanting to press this button all year and they basically held off because of the Royal Commission,” he said.

“It’s basically saying we can’t look any worse than we’ve been looking over the last six months, so we might as well go for broke and raise interest rates.”

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