ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott said he’s seen a “modest” increase in customers reaching out for help, just a sliver of a broader group of people and businesses who are largely adapting well to higher interest rates.
Customers are mostly “faring extremely well” as they adjust spending patterns due to the elevation in borrowing costs, he said in testimony to a parliamentary committee in Canberra Wednesday. “People are still saving, they are not dipping into those savings at this point,” in aggregate, he said. “Small businesses are continuing to increase their saving.”
People are instead cutting back on discretionary items like health club subscriptions, TV streaming services and dining out, adjusting to cope with the economic challenges, he said. For example, only 6 of every 1,000 dollars in our Australian home loans portfolio was overdue by more than 90 days.
Australian business conditions indicated an ongoing resilience this month, while a gauge of consumer confidence remained in “deeply pessimistic” territory. That shows the surge in living costs is dragging on sentiment and financial markets’ pricing suggests the Reserve Bank of Australia will increase rates further this year.
Meanwhile, Elliott backed the 3% serviceability buffer that banks need to apply on top of the existing mortgage rate to assess domestic borrowers’ capacity to meet repayments.
“We are very comfortable with the 3%,” he said, noting there will always be exceptions.
