Several banking giants in the domestic circuit have recently defended their decision to back the interest rate hike in the economy soon after the Prime Minister Julia Gillard joined in the chorus of criticism.

It is to be mentioned here that the rate rises announced by the Reserve Bank are above the level of the 25 basis points announced by the central banking giant during the last week but as far as the Westpac's latest move is concerned, it is below ANZ's 39-basis-point increase and CBA's 45-basis-point rise.

It may be noted here that the PM Gillard slammed Westpac and NAB. While the minister was speaking from Korea she scolded the banks for joining the other two big banks in raising interest rates beyond the Reserve Bank's official increase last week.

In fact, as there was no official justification from the end of the banks as well as to what is the reason behind announcing a raise in rates by more than the official Reserve Bank move and hence it has attracted a lot of criticism from the general public in the region.