Credit conditions (C60)

The data: coverage, periodicity and timeliness

Coverage characteristics

We source data from our Credit Conditions Survey.

The Credit Conditions Survey is a six-monthly survey of a selection of banks. The selection of banks excludes some smaller banks, but covers a significant portion of total bank lending.

Data starts in March 2018, when the Credit Conditions Survey was revised.

Backdata

Backdata based on a previous version of the Credit Conditions Survey is available to provide long-run data. This backdata begins in June 2009. The first iteration of the survey was quarterly. However, the survey was changed to being half-yearly after the first quarter.

Periodicity and timelines

We publish data every six months, near the end of the month following the reporting month. March survey results are published in late April, and September survey results are published in late October.

Access by the public

Statistics release calendar

The statistics release calendar provides a long-term plan of scheduled releases. We update and release it on the first working day of the month.

View the statistics release calendar

Integrity

Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including confidentiality of individual responses

We disseminate this information as a service to the public in a format that preserves the confidentiality of transactions. Our function and operations are governed by the Reserve Bank Act of New Zealand 1989.

Read the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989

We only publish aggregated data. Individual institutional data is confidential.

Provision of information about revisions and advance notice of major changes in methodology

We generally publish revisions when we update and release the next table. Should we need to make revisions more promptly, we will post a special note on the website.

We also post any major changes in methodology on the website as a special note.

Quality

Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics

A copy of the survey template and definitions is available from our Surveys page.

Go to the Surveys page

Supporting material

The credit conditions survey is explained in a November 2018 Bulletin article.

Read Introducing the Credit Conditions Survey

The survey template is also available on our surveys page

Key concepts

Loan demand

A lender’s perceptions of households’ and businesses’ appetite for loans, regardless of whether or not those loans are actually granted.

Credit availability

A lenders’ willingness and ability to supply credit, holding credit demand constant. Credit availability may change due to non-price and price factors. Non-price factors may include banks’ lending standards, risk appetite, lending limits and non-price terms, and conditions attached to loans, among other things. Price factors include banks’ interest mark-ups, risk pricing, lending fees and inducements offered with loans. Banks are asked to not count the direct impact of them passing through changes in benchmark interest rates and funding costs.

Lending types

Because of the qualitative nature of the survey, exact definitions of sectors are influenced by banks’ own internal processes and the judgements of respondents. The lending types may therefore not perfectly align with other data we collect.

Household lending

Loans to households for non-business purposes. This typically consists of:

• residential mortgage loans – this includes both lending for owner-occupier and investment purposes
• consumer loans – this includes lending for credit cards, as well as secured and unsecured personal loans.

Commercial property loans

Loans for the purpose of investing in or developing commercial property. Commercial property also includes larger-scale investment in and development of residential property.

Business loans

Loans to businesses that are not for commercial property or agriculture purposes. Business loans are split into SME business loans and corporate/institutional loans. There is no strict threshold between these categories. Banks use their own internal definitions (such as their business unit boundaries) and judgements. As a guide:

• Corporate/institutional business is likely to include:
  • businesses with annual turnover exceeding $50 million
  • businesses that typically require more sophisticated lending facilities
  • businesses with more than 20 employees
  • branches of non-resident corporate/institutional businesses.
• SME businesses is likely to include:
  • businesses with annual turnover less than $50 million
  • sole proprietorships and small partnerships
  • businesses with fewer than 20 employees.

Agriculture loans

Business loans to the agriculture industry. This includes loans for:

• dairy farming
• sheep and beef farms
• other agriculture on farm (for example, horticulture).

Drivers of changes in credit conditions

Cost of funds

The cost to banks of raising additional funds or replacing existing funding relative to the relevant interest rate benchmark. The direct impact of passing through changes in the cost of funding should be ignored. However, changes in the cost of funding may affect the availability of credit in other ways, such as by prompting changes in lending standards.

Balance sheet constraints

Balance sheet constraints refer to constraints arising from limited access to capital or debt funding (other than changes in the cost of those funds). Balance sheet constraints may stem from regulatory requirements (for example, capital, liquidity and funding requirements) as well as internal balance sheet constraints (for example, concentration limits). They may also stem from changes in the ability of a lender to subsequently transfer risk after writing a loan (for example, via securitisation).

Perception of risk and risk tolerance

'Perception of risk' refers to a bank’s perception of actual risk. This may change due to developments in the general economy, industry-specific factors, firm-specific factors and other changes in borrowers’ creditworthiness. By contrast, ‘risk tolerance’ refers to the levels of risk a bank is willing to accept. This may alter due to changes in the bank’s underlying risk appetite and business strategy. A bank’s perception of actual risk and its risk tolerance may either change in line with each other or move in different directions.

Regulatory changes

Changes in regulation that we or any other New Zealand or overseas regulator imposes.

Survey methodology

Qualitative response mapping

All published indicators from the Credit Conditions Survey (CCS) are based on banks’ qualitative responses. Possible responses lie on a five-point scale, with each response assigned a score between -100 and 100. The qualitative response scales are provided below.

Example response scales for the main question types

Loan demand (6-month horizon)

Credit availability (6-month horizon)

Credit availability (3-year horizon)

Factors affecting the availability of credit (6-month horizon)

Index calculation

We only publish aggregate indicators from the CCS. The index values for the aggregate indicators represent the average response across banks, weighted by each bank’s market share. These lie between -100 and 100.  A positive index value indicates an increase in loan demand or credit availability (also referred to as an ‘easing’ of credit availability). Negative values indicate a reduction in demand or credit availability (or a ‘tightening’ of credit availability).

The market share information used is that for the relevant lending type – for example, dairy loans or commercial property loans. Where granular market share data are not available for a specific type of lending, we use the market share for the next highest level of disaggregation. We source the market share information from our Bank Balance Sheet.

Combined indicator for agriculture loan demand

The survey has no questions on loan demand for the agriculture sector overall. To calculate these indicators, the loan demand indicators for the three subsectors are averaged. The subsectors are:

• agriculture – dairy farms
• agriculture – sheep and beef farms
• agriculture – other agriculture on farm.

The subsector indicators are weighted by their share of the banking system’s lending.

This comment relates only to the agriculture loan demand indicators. Other indicators (including the agriculture credit availability indicator) are based on single questions in the survey.

Miscellaneous

Seasonal factors

Banks are asked to ignore regular seasonal fluctuations when responding to the survey.

Symbols and conventions for summary table

General notes

• Individual figures may not sum to the totals due to rounding
• Percentage changes are calculated on unrounded numbers
• You are free to copy, distribute and adapt these statistics subject to the conditions listed on our copyright page.