The Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) rate for the first quarter of 2024 remains unchanged at zero per cent

Summary

The Bank of Italy deems that the countercyclical capital buffer rate in force for the current quarter, equal to zero per cent, is appropriate in the current macrofinancial context.

In the third quarter of 2023, the credit-to-GDP ratio decreased. The deviation from the long-term trend of the total credit-to-GDP ratio was negative by 12 percentage points, if calculated based on the methodology developed by the Bank of Italy. The bank credit-to-GDP ratio provides similar indications.

Bank loans to both households and non-financial corporations decreased. The NPL ratio remained at historically low levels; the unemployment rate was practically unchanged. In the second quarter of the year, real house prices increased slightly, after the sharp decline recorded in 2022.

The Bank of Italy has recently started a comprehensive review of the national methodological framework for setting the CCyB, in order to assess whether the one currently used is still adequate for the purposes of the buffer. The review will also take account of the acknowledgement by the Basel Committee of the possibility, already applied by some countries, of introducing a positive capital buffer even under normal conditions, i.e. when cyclical risks are balanced (neither high nor low, i.e. a positive cycle -neutral CCyB).