In the past 12 months the market has slowed to the lowest credit growth in more than 30 years resulting in fierce competition in home lending leading to price competition. However, in recent times, with uncertainty in global markets, we have seen a substantial increase in funding costs, and this has resulted in a significant squeeze on home loan margins. With no signs of funding costs easing, the Bank needs to pull back discounts for new loans. As a result, we are reducing discounts from their current abnormally high peaks to levels that more closely aligned with normal settings.
