Banking

Bloomberg China’s bank lending and credit provision hit records in March, indicating that government and central bank efforts to boost support for the economy are having an effect. Aggregate financing increased by 5.15 trillion yuan ($732 billion) last month, compared to a median estimate of 3.14 trillion yuan. That was a record for any month in comparable data back to ...

Bloomberg Foreign official holdings of Treasuries stashed at the Federal Reserve declined $21.7 billion during the first week of April, as the economic consequences of the coronavirus roiled governments and central banks around the world. The decrease appeared in the Fed’s weekly custody data, with the latest figure indicating a drop for the week that ended April 8. That’s the ...

Bloomberg Canada’s five biggest banks approved about 69,000 in loans on the opening day of the federal government’s relief program for small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. That totals $2 billion if every client took the full amount allowed under the Canada Emergency Business Account, which offers government-guaranteed loans of as much as C$40,000 that are interest-free through 2022. ...

Bloomberg South African banks are pushing for the creation of a loan-guarantee program to boost the flow of credit as lenders ramp up efforts to help clients cope with the coronavirus fallout. The nation is in its second week of a 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19, which if extended could further cripple an economy already in recession. ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank is not currently preparing retail banks for the introduction of a negative official cash rate, suggesting policy makers will resist cutting it further for the time being. The main reason the Reserve Bank committed to keeping its benchmark rate at 0.25% for at least a year “was to take away the imminent distraction of needing ...

Bloomberg Lenders face continued difficulties in issuing financing under the $349 billion small business relief effort the Trump administration launched a week ago in response to the coronavirus outbreak, leaving mom-and-pop firms at growing risk of failure. Banks have been intermittently shut out of the government’s loan-processing system. They’re manually filling out forms — and are forced to start over ...

Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank said the New York Federal Reserve will provide it with a $60 billion repurchase facility to help with liquidity needs amid a dollar shortage triggered by the coronavirus outbreak. Bank Indonesia has no plan yet to use the facility, Governor Perry Warjiyo told investors on a conference call. The agreement on the credit line was a ...

Bloomberg As risk assets regain their mojo amid optimism the coronavirus spread is beginning to level off, Bitcoin’s back above $7,000. The largest cryptocurrency gained as much as 6.4% to $7,193, its highest in nearly a month. That’s its biggest one-day gain in two weeks and caps a near 11% rally for Bitcoin so far in April. “Risk-on mode was ...

Bloomberg Republic Bank Ghana Ltd. is urging the government to cut tax rates to cushion the economy from the fallout of the coronavirus. The government should consider easing corporate-income tax to 20% from 25% and give workers relief, Benjamin Dzoboku, the Accra-based lender’s general manager for finance and strategy, said by phone. Banks, insurers, telecommunications firms, breweries and miners pay ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve said it will create a program to help speed the flow of funds to small companies through the government’s coronavirus stimulus, marking its latest step to shield the US economy from the pandemic. The facility will provide term financing to banks against loans issued under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, the Fed said in ...