AIB not to pass rate cut on to variable rate mortgage holders

The AIB Executive Chairman David Hodgkinson has said the European Central Bank interest rate cut will not be passed on to customers.

Mr Hodgkinson said, given that the State-owned bank did not hike variable mortgage charges when the ECB increased rates during the summer, there will be no decrease.

The Chief Executive of Bank of Ireland, Richie Boucher, is refusing to say if the institution will be cutting variable rates.

The AIB and Bank of Ireland bosses briefed the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the Finance Minister Michael Noonan this afternoon on the banks' lending, along with the Ulster Bank chief James Brown.

Mr Hodgkinson said: "Because we didn't increase our rates, we are not going to decrease them.

"When the ECB raised rates earlier in the summer we did not increase our rates at that time to our customers, so they had the benefit of that for a period."