CANBERRA _ Finance Minister Penny Wong hopes retail banks think carefully about their customers and the wider community when making decisions on lending rates, amid fears increases may be on the way.
The Reserve Bank of Australia left the official cash rate unchanged at 4.25 per cent at Tuesday's first board meeting of the year, when the central bank was widely expected to cut the rate again by 25 basis points.
In the run-up to that meeting, the major banks warned they might not be able to pass on any official reduction in full because of increasing costs linked to offshore fund raising.
With ANZ Banking Group due to make its own statement on lending rates tomorrow, there are concerns it could hike and encourage other banks to do likewise.
Senator Wong said decisions on lending rates were up to individual banks.
``But in making that decision I would hope they would think carefully about their customers and the views of broader community,'' she told the National Press Club.
``They are big businesses that operate within the community, and there are expectations Australians do have about how they operate.''
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