Northern Crock

Banks Standard Variable Rate as at 3.30pm:

Abbey 5.44%

Lloyds TSB 5.00%

RBS 5.19%

B&B 7.09%

Northern Rock 7.34%

No wonder Northern Rock is repaying it's debt to the government quicker than expected. This is in excusable. The two wholly owned Government banks are charging it's customer 2 to 2.5 percentage points higher interest now than the other institutions the Government now has an interest in.

Remember, the executives of any company have a statutory duty to act in the interests of their shareholders. If the Government, as 100% owner of these banks, wants action to be taken on interest rates it can demand it. So why has it not?

5pm Update:

According to the BBC, Northern Rock have reduced their SVR by 1.5% to 5.84%. Very welcome, but still at least 0.4% higher than any of the high street lenders.