ANZ’s risk chief sees some signs of stress but no recession ahead
A slower economy, high inflation and rising rates typically spell trouble for bank credit. Not this time. Kevin Corbally explains what's really happening. And what is keeping him awake.
Kevin Corbally is ANZ Banking Group’s chief risk officer responsible for ANZ Group’s Risk Management, overseeing global Credit, Market and Operational Risk and Compliance teams as well as risk related strategies, policies and processes.
Australia has enjoyed a period of very benign credit conditions — despite Covid — but we’ve now had a year and half of interest rate rises. How is that playing out in what you’re seeing at ANZ?
While there is no doubt many Australians are closely monitoring their finances in face of the recent cost of living pressures and increased rate environment, overall, we continue to see that the great majority of our customers, retail and business, find themselves in a more solid position than pre-Covid.
Offset deposit balances, for example, are 50% higher than pre-Covid. By and large that has gone into offset accounts and that is mitigating against higher interest rates. In fact, we’ve seen customers actually get ahead on repayments — and that has even improved from 68% in March 2022 to 70% in March 2023.
