Many authorities failed to properly implement counter-cyclical buffers before the Covid-19 pandemic, creating problems when the virus hit, Agustín Carstens said on December 9.

The Bank for International Settlements general manager also warned that banking sectors in many countries face severe problems when governments withdraw their emergency support measures.

Carstens said the countercyclical capital buffer was the “most relevant” macro-prudential instrument in the Basel III toolkit for