Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Australia's banks think they are so clever...


Richard Farmer in Crikey:

"Their time will come. Banks might think it is very clever to protect their profit margins by not passing on the cut in official interest rates but their time will come. Treasury officials and politicians have long memories and when circumstances change there will be a day of reckoning.

When the immediate international financial crisis changes the government will get around to changing the very nature of banking back to that old fashioned concept of taking people's savings and lending them to approved borrowers. Banking will return to being one of the world's most straightforward and boring occupations. New regulations will ensure that profit margins return to what used to be norm 30 or 40 years ago.

So those bankers today pocketing all or most of the latest 0.25% rate cut should enjoy it while they can."