Australian banks

APRA released its quarterly property exposures data yesterday and it showed a small slowing in interest-only lending to 36% of new loans: And 39% of the stock: It has to fall to 30% to meet macroprudential 2.0.

Cross-posted from The Conversation: In this year’s budget papers, Treasury estimated that the bank levy will collect about A$1.5 billion in each of the next four years for the government.

Right on cue, the ASX has sunk to new lows below 5700 in its building correction: Big Iron is up: Big Gas down: Big Gold firm: Big Debt is still sinking: And Big Liar: We await China re-opening tomorrow.

Parliament tried to find it yesterday: Treasury secretary John Fraser declined to indicate what level of household debt would represent a grave threat to the nation’s economy, saying his department’s priority was to monitor the problem.

Yesterday S&P released a new report comparing Australia and Canada, explaining why it sees the former as a much weaker AAA sovereign than the latter.

By Leith van Onselen There are arguably few better businesses to be in than Australian superannuation.

By Leith van Onselen The Conservative loons over at the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) have lobbied federal MPs to oppose the Turnbull Government’s 0.06% levy on big bank liabilities, claiming it amounts to “quasi-nationalisation” that will undermine the “free enterprise system”.

No China today so the crapped out ASX is left to deflate all by itself.

While the fake debate over this guarantee or that levy persists, one thing that is happening for real is that Aussie bank funding costs appear to have passed the low point of the cycle and are climbing.

Because they just can’t last when the weather turns nasty.

By Leith van Onselen Mark Burgess, the former MD of the Future Fund, has warned that the Turnbull Government’s 0.06% levy on big bank liabilities has made the guarantee by the government to bail out the major banks explicit, thus creating expectations that it perhaps did not envisage.

By Leith van Onselen Labor’s pedantry over the Coalition’s 0.06% levy on the big banks’ liabilities rolled on for a fourth day yesterday when it once again used Question Time to discredit the Budget’s forecasts that the bank levy would raise $6.2 billion over the forward estimates.

From Morgan Stanley: We expect APRA to provide more clarity on capital requirements in coming months, and we think there is higher probability of a bear case outcome than a bull case.

By Leith van Onselen Labor’s pedantry over the Coalition’s 0.06% levy on the big banks’ liabilities rolled on for a third day yesterday when it once again used Question Time to discredit the Budget’s forecasts that the bank levy would raise $6.2 billion over the forward estimates.

By Leith van Onselen So, the four biggest banks have released their estimates of the cost of the Coalition’s 0.06% levy on the big 5 banks’ liabilities, which they claim will raise at least $2 billion less than forecast in the Federal Budget.

Dalian is soft today: No obvious reason for it beyond good sense and the looming wipe out of Noble Group which may be forced into inventory liquidations!…Big Iron has eased: Big Gas is firm on OPEC: WPL and OSH look bullish on the charts but they’re still way overvalued assuming $65 oil.

From S&P: The number of delinquent housing loans underlying Australian prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in March fell to 1.16% from 1.23% a month earlier, according to a recent report by S&P Global Ratings.

By Leith van Onselen Try not to vomit as you read former Treasury Secretary turned corporate sell-out (NAB Chairman), Ken Henry’s, letter to NAB shareholders vowing to fight the Coalition’s 0.06% levy on large bank liabilities: The tax – $6.2 billion over four years – is poor public policy that will affect every Australian.

By Leith van Onselen Yesterday, Labor gave a perfect example of why I hate politics so much.

There really is no accounting for people.