A fiery Karl Stefanovic has taken aim at the big banks he says are 'eating away at the savings of Australians' after the ninth interest rate rise in a row was announced.
The RBA on Tuesday hiked the cash rate 25 basis points to 3.35 per cent and warned further increases will follow to bring inflation from 7.8 per cent back to within 2 to 3 per cent.
Since May 2022 an extra $908 a month in repayments has been put on the average borrower with a $500,000 loan because of the rate increases, according to RateCity.
'Could they be any colder in their treatment of hardworking Australians?' Stefanovic said on the Today show on Wednesday.
'Do you remember during the pandemic when we had rate cuts? The banks seldom passed them on. And now they're like greedy moths to the flame, eating away at your savings, eating into your standard of living, your future' he fumed.
Karl Stefanovic has slammed Australia's 'greedy' big banks for passing on interest rate hikes adding hundreds of dollars to monthly mortgages and 'decimating' household budgets
Stefanovic pointed to the advertising campaigns favoured by the large banks.
'You've all seen the ads... from our community focused banks... 'we care about you',' he said
'Well they are passing on the rate hikes which are decimating family budgets.'
'They should be ashamed of themselves.'
Opposition leader Peter Dutton this week pounced on the rate hike saying: 'People will always pay more for their mortgages under Labor'.
Stefanovic said it appeared the coalition had found it's voice again 'in a single slogan' after a devastating election defeat last year.
'It's vaguely annoying, I know, but it will be effective,' Stefanovic said.
Economists have noted some slowing in spending amid the rate hikes, with retail sales volumes falling 0.2 per cent over the quarter.
Equifax also reported a drop-off in mortgage demand, down 16.1 per cent in the final quarter of last year, influenced by rate hikes and the rising cost of living.
The agency is also seeing consumers turning to credit cards to help pay bills and buy services such as travel, up 21 per cent in demand in the December quarter.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government was dealing with global and domestic pressures on inflation, which was starting to moderate but remained 'unacceptably high'.
He noted the government was delivering cheaper early childhood education and medicines, and was working on electricity bill relief, as well as showing spending restraint in the federal budget.
Mortgage demand is down more than 16 per cent amid the rate hikes, according to Equifax
However, Mr Dutton said the government had to foot the blame for political decisions which had increased pressure on the RBA and would ultimately make life harder for families.
'World events always influence interest rates and the RBA takes that into consideration and always has,' he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
'The fact is, though, this government has made decisions which have put upward pressure on interest rates including, for example, in relation to industrial relations.'
English (United States) ·