It was obvious to everyone last Thursday and Friday that when, as usual, no announcement was made by the banks, they were intending to maintain the loan rate. They were wondering how much they could keep and what they could get away with. They knew there would be an uproar in the media and that consumer groups would be upset. They did not think the Government would intervene in the active way it has done. It is wonderful that it did so. The Government does not, and can not, set interest rates, but if the banking institutions wanted to pick an issue over which they would fall out with the Government – and they need each other – this was the wrong one.