Summary: Cash rate expectations path slightly flatter; cash rate now expected to hit 0.24% by December 2022; week’s domestic economic reports generally viewed as neutral/unremarkable; no changes to ADI cash rates.
Since March 2020, the RBA has not enforced its cash rate target by draining liquidity from the banking system via changes in the total of ESA balances. As a result, the actual cash rate, currently at 0.03%, has been noticeably below the target rate, even after the RBA reduced this target to 0.10%. As such, contract prices only reflect expectations of the average actual cash rate in a given month and not some estimate of the likelihood of the RBA changing its target.
Expectations moved to reflect a slightly flatter path for the actual cash rate through the remainder of 2021 and into 2022 in comparison to its path at the end of the previous week. At the end of the week, contracts implied the cash rate would creep up from the current rate of 0.030% to 0.24% by December 2022. A week ago, the December 2022 contract’s price implied a rate of 0.25%.
The RBA can change the overnight cash rate target on any day of its choosing and it has done so on occasion in the past. However, past changes have typically been announced on the day of its Board meeting. Changes have been made much more frequently in the months of February, May, August and November.
Data released during the week which had the potential to affect interest rate expectations were generally viewed as neutral or unremarkable.
At the very start of the week, ANZ’s August Job Ads survey reported another modest decline. ANZ noted the number of advertisements was holding up but it still expects sizeable job losses to be reported in coming months.
The Melbourne Institute’s August reading of its Inflation Gauge came out at about the same time. The index remained unchanged from July and the annual rate slipped from 2.6% to 2.5%.
The next day, the RBA Board left its policy rates unchanged and stated it would proceed with its planned reduction in its weekly bond purchases programme.
3 month BBSW is a useful benchmark for cash rates and it finished the week unchanged at 0.01%. Currently, the RBA’s target for the overnight lending rate between banks is 0.10% but actual overnight interbank loans are being negotiated at 0.03%, 3bps above the RBA’s exchange settlement account (ESA) rate for ADI deposits with it.
There were no changes made by deposit-taking institutions in our survey of cash account interest rates this week.
N.B. Suncorp’s eOptions account has been replaced by Growth Saver account in our table.
CASH ACCOUNTS
| Product | Interest Rate p.a. | Special Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| AMP Saver Account | 0.10% | |
| AMP Notice Account | 0.10% | Minimum 31 days notice |
| ANZ Premium | 0.25% | |
| ANZ Progress Saver | 0.35% | Minimum $10 deposit and no withdrawal per month |
| Arab Bank Online Savings | 0.70% | Minimum balance $500,000. |
| Bankwest Smart eSaver | 0.40% | On balances from $500,000 to $5,000,000. No withdrawal per month |
| BOQ Fast Track Saver | 0.05% | Minimum monthly balance of $5000. |
| BoQ Bonus Interest Savings | 0.50% | Maximum 1 withdrawal per month. |
| CBA NetBank Saver | 0.05% | |
| CBA Goal Saver Account | 0.30% | On balances of $250,000 - $999,999. Minimum $200 deposit and no withdrawal per month. |
| Great Southern Bank | 0.40% | No maximum balance |
| Heritage Online Saver | 0.30% | Minimum balance $250,000 |
| ING Savings Accelerator | 0.75% | Minimum balance $150,000 |
| Macquarie CMA | 0.00% | Minimum balance $5000 |
| ME Online Savings | 0.05% | |
| NAB iSaver | 0.05% | |
| NAB Reward Saver | 0.30% | 1 deposit and no withdrawal per month |
| RAMS Saver Account | 0.15% | On balances from $200 - $500,000. Minimum $200 deposit and no withdrawal per month |
| Suncorp Growth Saver | 0.05% | |
| UBank USaver | 0.70% | Limit $200,000. Minimum $200 deposit per month. |
| UBank USaver Ultra | 0.10% | Limit $200,000. Minimum $200 deposit per month. |
| Up Saver Account | 1.10% | Calculated daily, paid monthly once qualfied |
| Volt Bank | 0.90% | Limit $245,000 |
| Westpac eSaver | 0.05% | |
| Westpac Reward Saver | 0.20% | Minimum $50 deposit and no withdrawal per month |
| 86400 Save account | 1.20% | On balances upto $50,000 |