The Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft (DK) has spoken out against the reintroduction of the countercyclical capital buffer proposed by the Bundesbank.
The umbrella association of banks and savings banks considers such a measure, which is intended to curb excessive lending, to be counterproductive in the current economic situation.
In its latest financial stability report, with a view to the further rise in real estate prices, the Bundesbank spoke out in favor of increasing the equity buffer, which was reduced to zero in the Corona crisis, to 0.25 percent.
Markus Frühauf
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The Financial Stability Committee, made up of representatives from the Bundesbank, the Bafin financial supervisory authority and the Federal Ministry of Finance, decides on this capital buffer. "Braking lending by activating the countercyclical capital buffer would currently be the completely wrong signal," said Karl-Peter Schackmann-Fallis, executive board member of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV), this year's DK leader.
He referred to the huge investments in the transformation towards more sustainability.
The banking industry is ready to support the financing.
In the opinion of the DK, it does not make sense to react to individual special risks such as rising prices on the real estate markets with general measures based on the watering can principle.
Instead, an examination of existing tailored macroeconomic instruments would be much more expedient here.
The ECB is also calling for countermeasures
Braking lending across the board would also run counter to the monetary policy stance of the European Central Bank (ECB), which aims to make banks more willing to finance.
According to Schackmann-Fallis, it's like stepping on the accelerator and the brake in a car at the same time.
However, in its latest financial stability report, the ECB is also concerned about developments on the German real estate market and is calling for countermeasures.