Goldman: Bank profits smashed as bad debts pile up

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Yesterday was another bloodbath for banks on the ASX, with the ASX 200 Financials index plunging another 9.3% to be down 44% since the 21 February peak:

According to Goldman Sachs, the domestic economy will contract by 6% in 2020, and that this will see the banks’ bad debts increase to 50 basis points of loans and reduce the sector’s earnings by 20%:

Goldman Sachs said it was now forecasting a 6 per cent contraction in the domestic economy in 2020 — the biggest since the 1920s Great Depression — with unemployment peaking at 8.5 per cent.

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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.