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Plain text size Larger text size Text size is very large When ANZ Bank chief executive Shayne Elliott floated the prospect of buying Suncorp bank with its board of directors, it didn’t take long to sell off the benefits of the deal. When he announced this week’s $4.9 billion bid, Australia’s biggest banking deal in more than a decade, Elliott said there was an initial view from the board that the deal would align with the bank’s strategy. “Nobody sitting around the board table at ANZ, or quite frankly very many places in the country, is saying that this doesn’t make sense to ANZ,” Elliott said. “That makes sense. We’ve always said that we want to strengthen our retail and commercial banks.” Likewise, most analysts and investors this week gave the thumbs up for its ambitious expansion. If successful, ANZ will jump to third place in the competitive home loan market and develop into a fast-growing country. But the proposed deal offen...

Rio appears to be doing a pretty good job of controlling those costs, and there are new opportunities in terms of improving operational efficiency, including the first ore from the vital new Gudai-Darri mine. But it’s hard to shake off concerns that Australia’s big iron ore miners are facing worrying pressure, with falling demand and rising costs conspiring to stifle profitability. That’s important for investors – Rio’s shares fell 2.6 percent on Friday, picking up losses since their recent peak last month to 21 percent, while BHP fell 24 percent over the same period – but also for Australia’s state and federal governments, for which royalties and strong iron ore taxes have been a boon over the last few years. The supply side is not an issue here, given that large iron ore miners have strong cost discipline and keep volumes under control. But the demand picture is deteriorating as China’s economy continues to suffer. China’s economy is treading...

Australian mortgage holders already battling the cost of living crisis should seek an additional $434 before Christmas on forecasts of further rate hikes. The Reserve Bank of Australia this week raised interest rates by 0.5 percent, the third straight increase. Check out the full story in the video above Watch the latest News on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >> This brings the official cash rate to 1.35 percent, with warnings of more gains on the horizon. Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, predicts another 0.75 percent increase over the rest of the year. Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, expects another 0.75 percent increase over the rest of the year. Credit: PICTURE CommSec Chief Economist Craig James said it would come in three separate gains of 0.25 percent. “Reserve Bank has not finished raising interest rates,” he said. “We can expect further rate hikes in the coming months. This is the most aggressive a Reserve Bank ha...