The Reserve Bank's emergency 0.25 percentage point cut on Thursday in response to the coronavirus hit to the economy took the cash rate to an unprecedented low of 0.25 per cent.

It followed a cut of the same size in early March.

Tasmanian-based Bank of us and MyState Bank both passed on the earlier cut in full to borrowers with variable rate mortgages, as did the big four banks.

Bank of us is not expected to announce its intentions until after a committee meeting to be held during the week starting on March 23.

Comment was being sought from MyState Bank, which recently announced it would cut interest rates on most of its savings products, while leaving others unchanged.

MyState Bank recently moved to reassure customers about the strength of Australia's banking system as the coronavirus crisis deepened.

"The Australian banking system is among the safest and most secure in the world," it said.

"We are regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), which promotes financial system stability in Australia.

"The stability of the banking sector is backed by the Australian government's Financial Claims Scheme, providing protection for certain deposits up to $250,000."

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe on Thursday said the central bank's board had "decided on a comprehensive package to help support jobs, incomes and businesses as the Australian economy deals with the coronavirus".

"We are clearly living in extraordinary and challenging times.

"The coronavirus is first and foremost a very major public health problem, but it has also become a major economic problem, which is having deep ramifications for financial systems around the world.

"The closure of borders and social distancing measures are affecting us all and they are changing the way we live.

"Understandably, our communities and our financial markets are both having trouble dealing with a rapidly unfolding situation that they have not seen before.

"As our country manages this difficult situation, it is important that we do not lose sight of the fact that we will come through this.

"At some point, the virus will be contained and our economy and our financial markets will recover."

Dr Lowe said the latest cash rate cut took total cuts in the past year to 1.25 percentage points.

"This is a substantial easing of monetary policy, which is boosting the cashflow of businesses and the household sector as a whole," he said.

"It is also helping our trade-exposed industries through the exchange rate channel."

He acknowledged low interest rates had negative consequences for some people, especially those relying on interest income.

"The Reserve Bank Board has discussed these consequences extensively, but the evidence is that lower interest rates do benefit the community as a whole, although I acknowledge that the effects are uneven," he said.

Dr Lowe said rates were likely to stay at their current level for an extended period.

" ... we are expecting a major hit to economic activity and incomes in Australia that will last for a number of months," he said.

"We are also expecting significant job losses.

"The scale of these losses will depend on the ability of businesses to keep workers on during this difficult period.

"We saw during the global financial crisis how flexibility in working arrangements limited job losses and this benefited the entire community.

"I hope the same is true in the months ahead."