‘It’s a bit unfair’: Here’s why ANZ shares are making news this week

Those invested in Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares might remember recent comments by Australian federal treasurer Jim Chalmers who slammed banks for not passing interest rate rises onto savings accounts.

Well, ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott hit back at such claims this week, outlining the bank’s moves to raise savings rates.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s going on with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank.

At the time of writing, the ANZ share price is $23.42, up 3.17% so far today.

ANZ boss responds to treasurer’s criticism

ANZ shares might be front of mind this week after the bank’s CEO responded to criticism from the federal treasurer.

Speaking before the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) upped the official interest rate to 1.85% last week, Chalmers said decisions made by some banks to increase interest rates on loans without increasing those on savings accounts were “really disappointing”. He told Sunrise:

I feel like people who are relying on their savings, they’ve been the principal victims of interest rates at historic lows for some time now.

There needs to be a silver lining in these interests going up and that’s for savers, people who need and deserve better interest rates.

But Elliott clapped back at such suggestions, saying the comments were “a bit unfair”.

The CEO told 3AW Mornings yesterday the bank “put[s] [its] best foot forward on a savings product”, continuing:

We’ve got a savings account out there, at-call; 2.5% … You’ll find that that’s the highest rate of any major bank out there and I think that’s exactly where it should be … given where the cash rate is.

The bank increased rates on ANZ Plus Save accounts with balances of less than $250,000 by 0.5% to 2.5% on Monday following the RBA’s latest hike.

It also announced a new 11-month Advance Notice term deposit rate of 3% and noted it was reviewing other savings rates.

ANZ share price snapshot

The ANZ share price is the worst performing of the ‘big four’ bank stocks of 2022 so far.

It’s slipped 14% year to date. Meanwhile, the ASX 200 has slumped 5.7% in that time.

The bank’s shares have also dumped 18% over the last 12 months while the index has fallen 7%.

The post ‘It’s a bit unfair’: Here’s why ANZ shares are making news this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

(function() {
function setButtonColorDefaults(param, property, defaultValue) {
if( !param || !param.includes(‘#’)) {
var button = document.getElementsByClassName(“pitch-snippet”)[0].getElementsByClassName(“pitch-button”)[0];
button.style[property] = defaultValue;
}
}

setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘background’, ‘#5FA85D’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#43B02A”, ‘border-color’, ‘#43A24A’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#fff”, ‘color’, ‘#fff’);
})()

More reading

• ANZ share price unfazed amid bank’s latest move to finance decarbonisation
• Here is the RBA interest rate outlook according to ASX 200 banks
• Guess how much ANZ shares have paid in dividends over the last 5 years
• ANZ share price best of bad bunch after pocketing extra $2.3b
• How are ASX 200 bank shares responding to the RBA rate increase?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/Qoz2piO