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Loan Deferrals Data, February 2021

16 March 2021

Just 3.5% of deferrals remain outstanding

As at February 28, total outstanding deferrals are just 3.5% of all loans that were deferred. Just 1.2% of small business loans remain deferred and 5% of housing loans. On the books of the 4 majors, just 0.2 % of all small business loans, 0.5% of housing loans, and 0.2% of all loan facilities remain deferred.


86% exited to performing status

Of all loans that have been exited, the majority (86%) exited to performing status (91% of small business loans and 85% of housing loans). These remain the same proportions as reported in December. Non-performing loans accounted for only 1.4% of exits to date, up from 1.2% in December.

This consists of 0.8% of small business loans and 1.6% of housing loans. A further 3.3% of loans have been repaid in full, consisting of (4% of small business loans and 2.6% of housing loans).

Note that loans exiting to performing status only refers to performing in the month the loan was exited. There is a possibility that loans exited can become non-performing in the months after they have been exited, which is not captured in the data below.


Note: Values have been removed where only one bank reported data. These values have not been used to calculate the overall percentages.
Note: Deferrals extended may include double counts, therefore the value and number of total deferral exits is less than the sum of the number and value of combined exit sub-categories. Percentages are calculated directly between sub-categories and the total exits as per the original reporting by banks.
Note: Values have been removed where only one bank reported data. These values have not been used to calculate the overall percentages.
Note: Deferrals extended may include double counts, therefore the value and number of total deferral exits is less than the sum of the number and value of combined exit sub-categories. Percentages are calculated directly between sub-categories and the total exits as per the original reporting by banks.

High risk: 25% of remaining small business loans

The greatest risk indicator of the loans that are remaining is that more than one quarter of small business loans are operating in high risk industries.

When examining the location of remaining deferred loans, the industries with the largest remaining loans deferred, relative to all loans in that industry, are Administrative and Support Services, Accommodation and Food Services, and Arts and Recreation Services. However, in terms of total loans still deferred, Rental Hiring and Real Estate, Other Services, and Construction account nearly half (46%) of all loans that continue to be deferred.

Note: The proportion of all small business loans deferred differs to that reported in the APRA form 923.2. This is because the total values differ between these forms, for unknown reasons.

Even distribution of deferred loans

The geographic distribution of remaining deferred loans is relatively even. Table 5 shows the proportion of loans that remain deferred, relative to all same loans in that particular region. (For example, if there are 1000 housing loans in NSW, and 10 remain deferred, then the relative number of loans remaining deferred is 1%.) While Victoria does have a higher proportion of loans still deferred, it is not substantially higher than other states and territories.

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