With announcements piling up by the day, here is a guide to the measures announced so far:
For Banks:
- Cheap money. The Reserve Bank of Australia launched a A$90 billion ($53 billion) funding facility for lenders, with extra money available for those who lend more to small businesses (Mar. 19)
- Looser capital rules. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority says banks can dip into their capital buffers built up in recent years (Mar. 19)
- Less new regulation. APRA says it is suspending the majority of its planned supervisory initiatives to allow the industry to focus on the crisis (Mar. 23)
For Markets:
- Volume limits. The securities regulator has told firms to limit the number of trades executed to avoid straining infrastructure (Mar. 16)
- Buying bonds. Australia’s central bank is buying state and federal government bonds as part of a new policy regime designed to drive down yields (Mar. 19)
- Buying securities. The country’s funding arm is running a complementary A$15 billion program to buy asset-backed securities issued by non-bank lenders (Mar. 19)
- Liquidity injections. The RBA has been pumping record amounts of liquidity into the short-term lending market (Mar. 18)
For Consumers:
- Mortgage rate cuts. The big four lenders have all cut interest rates for customers with fixed mortgages, with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. also reducing rates on variable loans (Mar. 20)
- Payment holidays. At all of the big lenders, customers who get into financial difficulty will be able to pause repayments for up to six months. (Mar. 20)
- Early pension access. People in financial stress will be allowed to withdraw A$20,000 this financial year and next from their superannuation savings. (Mar. 22)
For Small Business:
- Repayment deferral. All the major banks have signed up to a plan to allow small businesses to defer loan payments for up to six months, which the Australian Banking Association says will put as much as A$8 billion in the pockets of proprietors. (Mar. 20)
- Loan guarantees. For firms with revenue under A$50 million, the federal government says it will guarantee 50% of loans taken out by businesses affected by the outbreak to be used for working capital. (Mar. 22)
