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Donald Trump's tariff threat means mortgage holders must wait for a further ECB cut in interest rates

Donald Trump's tariff threat means mortgage holders must wait for a further ECB cut in interest rates

However, there is a chance of a ninth cut in September, observers have said.
Two mortgage lenders that are part of AIB said they were cutting their rates and committed to continue offering cash back on certain home-loan products.
EBS and Haven, the broker-focused units of AIB, are reducing mortgage rates by up to 0.5 percentage points on some products.
The cuts are for non-green mortgages and apply to new and existing customers coming off fixed rates or moving from a variable rate.
Haven and EBS are reducing all other non-green fixed rates by 0.2 percentage points
Broker Michael Dowling questioned why EBS and Haven's green rates were not coming down.
The 0.5-point reductions are for the EBS two-year fixed-rate product and the Haven three-year fixed-rate product.
Haven and EBS are also reducing all other non-green fixed rates by 0.2 percentage points.
The new rates are available to new and existing customers from this week.
Customers switching their mortgage to EBS and Haven who meet the criteria will also benefit from the extension of the Cashback and Switcher offers to the end of December next year on certain products.
Mr Dowling, of Irish Mortgage Brok­ers, said AIB announced significant reductions last October to its green rates, making them the cheapest in the market.
However, they did not apply to EBS or Haven customers, despite both banks being 100pc owned by AIB.
Mr Dowling said the 0.5 percentage points reduction would apply to the two-year fixed option with EBS and the three-year fixed option with Haven.
'The other non-green rates for AIB, EBS and Haven remain expensive compared to what competitors are offering,' he said. 'Extraordinarily, nine months later, there are no rate reductions to the green rates from EBS and Haven.'
Mr Dowling questioned why AIB 'discriminates' in the rate offering from the three entities in the group.
Today's meeting of the ECB governing council is expected to pause rate reductions following eight previous cuts since June last year up to last month.
Policymakers will have their eyes on tariff threats from US president Donald Trump and the continuing global political turmoil.
Up to now there have been eight quarter-point cuts that have brought the refinancing rate, off of which tracker mortgages are priced, to 2.15pc.
One further rate cut later in the year is still on the cards, probably in September
ECB president Christine Lagarde said last month that the cutting cycle was nearing its end.
Mr Dowling said he expected the ECB to leave interest rates on hold.
'There is too much uncertainty in the market, and I expect the ECB to review rates at their meeting on September 11,' he added.
Daragh Cassidy, of price comparison site Bonkers.ie, said that after seven consecutive rate cuts, and eight in total since last June, it was almost a given that the ECB would keep rates on hold at today's meeting.
He said eurozone inflation was now pretty much on target at 2pc.
'However, one further rate cut later in the year is still on the cards, prob­ably in September,' he added.
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