Aussie banks take a break from binging on offshore debt

Tuesday 3 October 2017

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) last week released its National Financial Accounts for the June quarter, which revealed a small large 2% quarterly rise in Australian banks’ gross external liabilities (offshore borrowings) in the June quarter, but a big 5% reduction over the year and a sharp contraction relative to Australia’s GDP.

Bonds (+$10 billion) and loans issued offshore (+$5 billion) drove the quarterly lift on offshore borrowings by the banks over the June quarter:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.