NAB increases its fixed rates for the second time in a week

One of Australia’s biggest banks has increased its fixed rates for borrowers for the second time in just over a week.

NAB on Friday announced it would increase the fixed rates for owner-occupiers and investors by up to 0.20 per cent.

Those increases follow similar hikes last Friday, resulting in some rates increasing by up to 0.50 percentage points in eight days.

The back-to-back hikes come ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s August rates decision - with the big four banks divided on whether another increase is coming.

RateCity.com.au research director Sally Tindall said NAB’s fixed rate moves would have borrowers “rattled”.

“When push comes to shove, borrowers are overwhelmingly opting to go variable, giving banks the runway to hike fixed rates with little consequence,” she said.

“If borrowers are looking to fix anytime soon they’d do well to keep an eye on what the big banks are doing, or better yet, look beyond them.”

According to RateCity, 71 lenders have lifted at least one fixed rate in the past month, equating to 63 per cent of the research body’s database.

Borrowers on variable rates could also be in for more pain, with the Reserve Bank to meet on Tuesday.

Two of the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, are forecasting a hike to the interest rate.

NAB and ANZ predict a second consecutive hold.

The RBA kept the cash rate on hold when it met in July, citing uncertainty on the economic outlook.

But it noted in its minutes that “some further tightening of monetary policy may be required to bring inflation back to target within a reasonable timeframe”.

The most recent consumer price index figures show the annual inflation rate has slowed to 6 per cent in the 12 months to June 2023.

Though that’s below many economists’ forecasts, it’s still significantly higher than the RBA’s target of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.