Use of the TFF

Below is an excerpt from the August 2021 Statement on Monetary Policy, Box C: Use of the Reserve Bank's Term Funding Facility.

Banks accessed $188 billion of funding from the TFF

The TFF has provided $188 billion in funding to banks. This funding is equivalent to 4 per cent of banks' non-equity funding, or 6 per cent of credit. Drawdowns were concentrated over two periods of heightened activity in the lead up to expiry dates for allowances (Graph C.1).

Most banks took up most of their allowances

In aggregate, banks drew down 88 per cent of the total funding of $213 billion available over the life of the facility. By bank type, the major banks and mid-sized Australian banks took up all of their allowances in aggregate, while small banks and foreign banks took up a little over half of their total allowances (Graph C.2). By number, around two-thirds of banks accessed the TFF. Those that did not access the facility represented a very small share of allowances by value (Graph C.3). In large part these banks were small Australian banks and foreign banks, many with very small allowances, and some with larger allowances but with less ready access to collateral.

The top 10 largest users of the TFF account for almost 90 per cent of drawdowns from the facility (Table C.1). Differences in the amount drawn from the TFF within this group largely reflect differences in banks' total credit outstanding; this is consistent with each bank's initial and supplementary allowances having been based on its credit outstanding when the allowances were set in March 2020 and September 2020. However, for some of these banks the additional allowances they accumulated were significant, reflecting strong growth in their loans to businesses since early 2020.