Credit conditions
Strong action needed to tackle credit booms, research finds
Study of macro-prudential policy use in south-east Europe finds policies must be broad, powerful and carefully calibrated if they are to work
BIS data sheds light on complex shift in global liquidity
There are signs global liquidity might be going into reverse for emerging markets; digging into the data shows situation is more complicated than aggregate figures imply
Tonga central bank promotes ‘prudent lending’
National Reserve Bank of Tonga says bank lending rose by 12% in year to November, driven chiefly by lending to households
PBoC looks to expand lending programme for SMEs
Central bank to 'steadily advance' refinancing scheme as economy expected to slow further; Ma Jun clarifies PBoC's position on exchange rate fluctuations
Mauritius looks to set up asset management company
Central bank launches public consultation on creation of bad bank, which would help ‘clean up clogged balance sheets’ of country’s banks
Malawi stress test shows three banks fall below Tier 1 requirement under minor credit shock
Latest stress tests show improved resilience but credit shocks remain greatest risk, Malawi’s latest financial stability report reveals
Seacen Centre’s Genberg calls for research into effects of macro-prudential tools
Hans Genberg warns ‘we do not have much experience with the consequences’ of macro-prudential policies with respect to risk distribution and cross-border effects
Bank of Canada adds negative rates to toolkit
Central bank publishes new framework for monetary policy when interest rates are approaching zero, suggesting the overnight rate could be cut as low as -0.5%
Central Bank of Armenia says currency turbulence has raised credit risks
Financial stability report says economy has been affected by sharp depreciation of the dram, worsening credit risk as many loans are denominated in US dollars
Banks may need major overhaul to handle new disclosures, FSB task force says
Many banks will need to make ‘substantial changes’ to systems and processes to cope with new and more complex standards on accounting for expected credit losses, report finds
Nigeria cuts rates to encourage growth in ‘bold’ decision
The central bank lowers the policy rate by 200bps as part of a package of measures aimed at supporting growth and easing credit conditions
Barbados central bank to manage ‘enhanced credit guarantee scheme’
Under the forthcoming guarantee fund there will be $70 million available; it will be used to guarantee as much as 80% of specific loans to SMEs
RBA deputy disappointed by data inaccuracies
Philip Lowe discusses two problems that have emerged in reporting of loans in housing market, stressing value of high-quality data
Hungarian central bank mulls lower capital requirements for SME-friendly banks
Central bank looks to incentivise lending to small businesses; risk-absorbing swaps and 'preferential' deposit facility could be supplemented by lower requirements
Bank of Israel unveils plans for better credit data gathering
Registry designed to improve both credit provision and financial stability; deputy governor says central bank has learnt from others while tackling what has been a major project
Countries under credit stress should ‘front-load’ fiscal consolidation, says ECB paper
Front-loading will bring confidence effects, the working paper suggests
Ireland’s Gerlach points to indirect impact of macro-prudential tools
Deputy governor says evidence suggests LTV and LTI tools are having the strongest effect via indirect channels, rather than their direct impact on credit, although the tools are still new
BoE paper explores money and credit at sectoral level
Working paper models sectors separately before ‘knitting’ them together; authors use framework to examine financial shock and use of quantitative easing to tackle it
Bundesbank paper explores why banks may lend too much
A limited number of banks may engage in excessive lending, and those that do are more likely to rely upon capital support, says Bundesbank paper
Credit growth has had significant impact on EM growth, IMF paper says
IMF paper explores relationship between the level and composition of credit growth and real GDP growth across 31 emerging market economies
Botswana research weighs impact of various instruments on credit
While interest rates may be more effective at influencing credit than reserve requirements, more ‘direct’ macro-prudential measures could be even better, Botswana article finds
Difficult liquidity conditions are here to stay, say Asia conference panellists
Gapping moves in spot markets and higher prices for clients in FX derivatives are here to stay, as banks pull back from market-making in non-core currencies, panellists warn
BIS paper studies impact of Swiss CCB on quality of credit
Working paper finds activation of countercyclical capital buffer affected the composition of mortgage lenders in two key ways
Israel’s bank supervisor looks to split credit card companies from banks
Hedva Ber has revealed plans to boost competition in financial sector, including forcing two of the largest Israeli banks to sell their credit card companies and creating a credit database