Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/325482 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers No. 8/2025
Publisher: 
Bank of Finland, Helsinki
Abstract: 
We use confidential loan-level data from the European Central Bank to investigate how changes in the countercyclical capital buffer requirement in Germany affect lending to firms. We find evidence showing that tightening the countercyclical capital buffer leads German banks to reduce the volume of corporate loans and increase the price of new loans. These effects take place immediately after the announcement, given 12 months before the change was implemented. Importantly, we find that the reduction in credit availability notably affects small and medium-sized enterprises, which experience both a significant decrease in available credit and an increase in credit costs. In contrast, large firms are not affected.
Subjects: 
Macroprudential policy
Countercyclical capital buffer
Loan level data
JEL: 
E58
G21
G28
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.