Global banks' dollar funding needs and central bank swap lines
BIS Bulletin No 27
9 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2021
Date Written: July 16, 2020
Abstract
At $13 trillion, the gross dollar liabilities of banks headquartered outside the United States at end-2019 were nearly as high as before the Great Financial Crisis. Most of their dollar funding was booked outside the United States.
We measure non-US banks' short-term dollar funding needs by comparing short-term dollar liabilities (including off-balance sheet FX swaps) with holdings of liquid dollar assets.
The scale of the central bank swap lines are of similar magnitude to banks' short-term dollar funding needs. Swap line usage peaked in May at $449 billion and has subsided since. However, dollar funding needs of corporates may yet reveal a broader need for dollars outside the banking system.
Keywords: dollar funding, central bank swap lines, dollar liquidity
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation