Cross-border lending down as banks cut back to home nations
BANK lending across borders fell by another $122bn (£72.8bn) in the final three months of 2013, the Bank of International Settlements said yesterday.
It is the seventh consecutive quarterly drop in lending and shows banks are still cutting back to home markets.
The trend represents a marked change from the pre-crash era when credit flowed more freely across borders.
The $122bn drop means lending over borders fell by 0.4 per cent in the quarter.
From the end of March 2012 to December 2013, cross border lending fell by $2.4 trillion, or 7.8 per cent of credit flows.
However, the pace of the fall slowed down in the quarter – the average of the previous two quarters was $520bn.
The figures also show the fall in euro-denominated claims came in at $355bn, while those in dollars and yen increased – indicating much of the reverse globalisation, or so-called balkanisation, continues to come from Eurozone banks.