How Did the Crisis in International Funding Markets Affect Bank Lending? Balance Sheet Evidence from the UK

Author(s):  
Shekhar S. Aiyar
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Cowling ◽  
Weixi Liu ◽  
Elaine Conway

PurposeUsing ethnicity as our point of focus, the authors consider the dynamics of the demand for bank loans, and the willingness of banks to supply them, as the UK economy entered the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 with a particular focus on potential behavioural differences on the demand-side and discrimination on the supply-side. In doing so we directly address crisis induced financial concerns and how they played out in the context of ethnicity.Design/methodology/approachUsing the most recent ten quarterly waves of the UK SME Finance Monitor survey the authors consider whether ethnicity of the business owner impacts on the decision to apply for bank loans in the first instance. The authors then question whether ethnicity influences the banks decision to meet or reject the request for a bank loan.FindingsThe authors’ pre-COVID-19 results show that there were no ethnic differences in loan application and success rates. During COVID-19, both white and ethnic business loan application rates rose significantly, but the scale of this increase was greater for ethnic businesses. The presence of government 100% guaranteed lending also increased general loan success rates, but again the scale of this improvement was greater for ethnic businesses.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors show very clearly that differences in the willingness of banks to supply loans to SMEs relate very explicitly to firm specific characteristics and ethnicity either plays no additional role or actually leads to improved loan outcomes. The data is for the UK and for a very unique COVID time which may mean that wider generalisability is unwise.Practical implicationsEthnic business owners should not worry about lending discrimination or be discouraged from applying for loans.Social implicationsThe authors identify at worst no lending discrimination and at best positive ethnic discrimination.Originality/valueThis is one of the largest COVID-19 period studies into the financing of ethnic businesses.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-155
Author(s):  
Ken Miyajima

PurposeDeterminants of credit growth in Saudi Arabia are investigated.Design/methodology/approachA panel approach is applied to macroeconomic and bank-level data spanning 2000 ‐15.FindingsBank lending is supported by strong bank balance sheet conditions (high capital ratio, and growth of NPL provisioning and deposits), and higher growth of both oil prices and non-oil private sector GDP. Lower bank concentration also helps, likely through greater competition, so does stronger institution. Consistent with the literature, lending by Islamic banks may be more responsive to economic activity. Lending remained robust in 2015 despite oil prices having declined, helped by strong bank balance sheets and as banks reduced their holdings of “excess liquidity”. To support bank lending in the period ahead, bank balance sheets need to remain strong. Fiscal adjustment and a reduced reliance on banks to finance the budget deficit would support credit provision to the private sector.Originality/valueThe paper is first to analyze in detail determinants of bank lending in Saudi Arabia applying a panel approach to bank level data, and draws critical policy implications.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashima Goyal ◽  
Akhilesh Verma

We estimate the determinants of credit and of non-performing assets (NPAs) using a firm and a bank panel with data up to 2015 in order to test bank lending against the aggregate demand channel as an explanation for slow Indian credit growth. The results support demand as the key constraint. Only demand variables affect corporate credit for a broad set of firms. Balance sheet weakness reduced credit only for a narrow subset of indebted firms in a difference-in-difference type analysis. Even so, sales remained the dominant variable. From the bank panel, the asset quality review (AQR) did have a strong negative effect on advances but gross NPAs did not. While high interest rates and low growth raised NPAs, so did past credit. Low demand not only reduced credit, it also increased NPAs. That the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) significantly reduces NPAs points to the productivity of fund infusion. When other determinants are controlled, bank ownership does not affect NPA ratios, again supporting external shocks as causal. The results suggest that apart from structural reform to clean balance sheets, recovery of demand is necessary for revival of credit growth. JEL Classification: G21, E51


2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 04006
Author(s):  
Boris Fisera ◽  
Jana Kotlebova

The ongoing process of globalization has affected the way the monetary policy is conducted – and this is especially the case of small open economies, where the economic developments are heavily affected by the developments abroad. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of unconventional monetary policy in two very open economies – Slovakia and the Czech Republic in the post-crisis era – the two rather similar very open economies. We assess the effects of their monetary policies by estimating their impact on the banking sector in both countries. We employ two cointegrating estimators – DOLS and FMOLS, so that we can assess the dynamics of the relationship between the developments of main balance sheet items of the respective central banks and the aggregate bank lending to various sectors of the economy. We do find evidence that unconventional policies of both central banks did lift bank lending – with the effect being stronger in Slovakia and for the QE policies. In both countries, the effect was more pronounced for the bank lending to household sector – specifically on housing related loans. Finally, we do not find evidence that the increasing openness of these two already very open economies affected the transmission of monetary policies into the banking sector.


2014 ◽  
Vol 228 ◽  
pp. R17-R34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Riley ◽  
Chiara Rosazza-Bondibene ◽  
Garry Young

This paper assesses the evidence and investigates some of the mechanisms by which the most recent banking sector crisis might have affected the supply side of the UK economy. We find clear evidence that the banking sector crisis affected credit supply to businesses and caused bank lending to decline. But we do not find much evidence of the heterogeneity in performance between different industrial sectors that would have been expected if banking sector impairment had been the key factor holding back productivity growth. Consistent with this we do not find strong evidence that a lack of reallocation of resources across businesses has been a substantial drag on productivity growth.


2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 1726-1750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabián Valencia

This paper develops a bank model to study supply-driven contractions in credit or credit crunches. In the model, the bank is affected by financial frictions in raising external funds. These frictions imply that the bank repairs its balance sheet only gradually following a negative shock that weakens the bank's capital position. Consequently, there is persistency in the response of bank lending even when the original shock (productivity or interest rate) is i.i.d. The nonlinear nature of these financial frictions also generates (i) a precautionary motive even with risk-neutral shareholders: the bank increases its desired level of capital if risk increases; (ii) an asymmetric response of lending: negative disturbances can have a bigger impact than positive ones; and (iii) volatility clustering in risk spreads and the bank's share price.


2017 ◽  
Vol 241 ◽  
pp. R70-R73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger E.A. Farmer

I discuss six tools available to monetary policy makers. Three of these have been used since the inception of central banking. Three are new and were introduced in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. I argue that, when the UK Monetary Policy Committee raises the interest rate, it should maintain a large balance sheet that consists of both risky and safe assets. Further, the Bank should trade the risk composition of its balance sheet to promote the stability of asset prices.


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