Lending standards loosened in NZ

Banks are reporting "increasing competitive pressures", the RBNZ says, with little evidence that the constraints from tight funding markets have "materially affected lending strategies or credit terms."

The March quarter survey "suggests credit conditions for households and businesses have continued to ease, and that banks have relaxed their lending standards for the rural sector for the first time in a number of years," the Reserve Bank of New Zealand wrote.

The RBNZ report said that within the business sector, the easing in credit standards was most evident in lending to corporate and institutional borrowers, with some other sources suggesting that tight lending standards have persisted for some business borrowers.