By Caroline Henshaw
SYDNEY--National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU) Tuesday became the
first of the country's major banks to pass on the full 25-
basis-point rate cut from Australia's central bank to mortgage
customers.
Australia's fourth-largest bank by market value said it would
reduce its standard-variable home-loan rate to 6.13% a year, the
lowest of Australia's big four lenders. The new rate will be
effective from May 13.
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday cut its cash rate
target to a record low of 2.75%, the seventh time it has cut its
benchmark since November 2011 in a bid to encourage growth outside
the country's mining sector.
NAB estimates the new rate will knock 62.50 Australian dollars
(US$63.67) a month in interest off an average A$300,000 home
loan.
Regional lender Bank Of Queensland separately lowered its
variable home-loan rate by 25 basis points.
Write to Caroline Henshaw at caroline.henshaw@wsj.com
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