Washington Federal Declares 106th Consecutive Cash Dividend

SEATTLE, WA, Jun 29 (MARKET WIRE) --
The Board of Directors of Washington Federal, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFSL), parent
company of Washington Federal Savings, today announced a quarterly cash
dividend of 5 cents per share. The dividend will be payable July 24, 2009
to common stockholders of record on July 10, 2009. This will be
Washington Federal's 106th consecutive quarterly cash dividend.

Washington Federal Savings operates 150 offices in Washington, Oregon,
Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. Established in 1917,
the Company provides residential real estate loans, commercial real estate
financing, consumer deposit accounts and business banking. On March 31,
2009, the Company reported $12.3 billion in assets, $7.6 billion in
deposits and $1.6 billion in stockholders' equity.

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

-0-