Debt
Apra toughens mortgage risk weights for Australian banks
Australian regulator's move to end era of low home loan risk weights helps push banks toward top quartile for capital ratio
IMF calls for Greek debt relief ‘far beyond’ EU plans
Memo warns public debt is ‘highly unsustainable’ and European leaders will need to provide much greater debt relief than they have discussed up to this point
Greek crisis enters critical weekend
Negotiations enter final days, with European authorities scrambling to assess whether new proposals go far enough; Greece has backers, but Germany must still be persuaded
Minneapolis Fed research separates Greece and Puerto Rico debt crises
Staff report notes the debt crisis has spilled over to the private sector in Greece but not in Puerto Rico, given the latter’s inability to interfere with private external debt contracts
Swedish authorities pin down structural factors driving growth in household debt
The rise in home ownership and a favourable tax system are probably contributing to the growth in household indebtedness, report finds, as Riksbank continues to urge action
IMF senior counsel explores legal frameworks for public debt management
Senior counsel at IMF’s legal department discusses the many trade-offs involved in designing the legal frameworks underpinning public debt management
IMF analysis calls for Greek debt relief
Analysis encourages European lenders to double grace and maturity periods on existing loans while providing two-thirds of another €52 billion in financing to keep Greece afloat
SNB paper: both monetary and macro-prudential policy impact arrears
Working paper suggests monetary policy impacts the affordability problems that drive arrears in the short term, while macro-prudential policy can help prevent longer-term problems
Canadian central bank lays out three ‘key’ vulnerabilities in financial system
Bank of Canada warns vulnerability associated with household indebtedness is ‘edging higher’ and points to imbalances in the housing market and investor risk-taking in financial markets
Chinese finance minister Lou Jiwei on local government debt and tax reform
Minister of finance Lou Jiwei talks about fiscal policy under China's 'new normal' and how the country plans to tackle spiraling local government debt
Riksbank paper measures impact of debt-to-income limits
Report weighs the costs and benefits of debt-to-income limits, finding they can be effective in tackling debt and are likely to have a ‘relatively small’ macroeconomic effect
Assessing risks from household debt is a complex task, Riksbank study finds
Economic commentary says risks in household sector seem high, but assessing them properly depends on a host of factors that keep changing and data that may not be available
Riksbank launches streamlined financial stability report
Shorter, more focused report aims to send clearer message to readers; follows close on the heels of a redesigned monetary policy report
RBNZ targets Auckland with new macro-prudential plans
Central bank wants to impose stricter macro-prudential rules on lending to property investors in Auckland; will also force banks to hold more capital against those loans from October
Serbia cuts rate amid IMF call for action on debt overhang
National Bank of Serbia cuts rate for third straight month, as IMF warns dangers may lurk beneath robust overall debt position
Currency shifts could create ‘dilemma’ for Asian economies
IMF regional economic outlook warns policy-makers could face an ‘uncomfortable trade-off’ between external competitiveness and financial stability
Legal questions force Swedish FSA to scrap amortisation rule
Financial Supervisory Authority suspends its plan to force households to pay down their mortgages over time in response to doubts over its mandate; Ingves says policy still needed
Greece raids local authorities for cash as repayments loom
Local authorities instructed to transfer cash balances to treasury accounts at the Bank of Greece; Constâncio says default would not ‘automatically’ push country out of the eurozone
Dallas Fed studies debt impact on exchange rate fluctuations
Countries that are most vulnerable to a sudden shift in capital inflows and a sudden fall in the capital account have ‘a large stock of net non-foreign direct investment external liabilities’
Risks in commercial property have fallen, RBNZ research finds
Article in latest RBNZ bulletin finds less leverage is being used to fund new purchases and developments, while market is showing signs of a ‘robust’ recovery
Carney: BoE ‘nowhere near’ exhausting macropru tools
Governor says Bank of England has ‘some way to run’ in terms of both the number of tools and options for calibration; debates debt levels on panel at Bundesbank conference
Irish deputy encouraged by NPL progress
Cyril Roux says banks have improved their distressed debt operations but warns it will take several years to work though the stock of commercial NPLs still outstanding
RBA research sets out stress test for households
Model emphasises dangers of relying on aggregate measures of household indebtedness when assessing financial stability and setting monetary policy
IMF research looks to jumpstart market for Italian NPLs
Nadège Jassaud and Kenneth Kang discuss their strategy for fostering a market for non-performing loans with Central Banking, stressing the need for ‘decisive action’