##ard20211013a. htm. - 2americans are unbanked — three times higher than the rate for all u. s. households. 3 in part, the large share that is unbanked reflects low access to a bank branch. as of 2021, majority - native american counties have an average of only two and a half bank branches — less than one - tenth the 26 - branch overall average for all counties nationwide. 4 native small businesses often struggle to access capital : cra small business and small farm lending per capita in majority - native american census tracts is only about a quarter of that in majority - white - non - hispanic tracts. 5 as representatives of native communities, you bring valuable insights to cra reform because of your extensive knowledge of the investment and credit needs of native communities, citizens, and businesses. the interagency cra proposal was informed by consultation with native representatives through roundtables, listening sessions, meetings, and comment letters. indeed, we took much of your feedback from comment letters to develop the native land areas sections of this proposal. as a result of this valuable feedback, the interagency cra proposal would provide additional scope for bank loans, investments, and services in native communities. today, i want to focus on several aspects of the proposal that are beneficial for native communities. first, the proposal provides greater incentives for community investments in native land areas by providing enhanced clarity and specificity about what activities qualify for cra credit. the proposed activities in native land areas cover four specific place - based categories : revitalization ; essential community facilities ; essential federal deposit insurance corporation, “ how america banks : household use of banking and financial services, ” fdic survey ( 2019 ), https : / / www. fdic. gov / analysis / household - survey /. information calculated using summary of deposits ( sod ) 2021. note that not all counties, especially some with high native american populations, exist in the sod dataset. federal reserve board staff analyzed annually reported cra small business and small farm loan data submitted by banks at the tract level and combined it with demographic data from the american community survey 2015 - 2019 5 - year survey. - 3community infrastructure ; and disaster preparedness and climate resiliency. the proposal also incorporates a new definition of native land areas based on the political status and government recognition of tribes and tribal areas that would enable the qualification of place - based activities in native land areas. the

ongoing improvements in mining firms'balance sheet positions. specifically, firms in the sector have reported a strong focus on reducing costs, realising efficiencies and paying down debt, particularly amid earlier expectations of commodity price declines ( as global supply increased and demand was seen to be moderating ). and while banks'direct exposures to the mining sector tend to be very low at around one per cent, the mining sector accounts for around 20 per cent of australia's business https : / / www. rba. gov. au / speeches / 2019 / sp - ag - 2019 - 08 - 08. html 9 / 13 08 / 08 / 2019 financial stability through the lens of business | speeches | rba investment. as such, there are important spillover channels to the rest of the economy, which mean that the improved position of mining firms reduces risks to firms in other parts of the economy. graph 7 small business the final issue i want to briefly cover is conditions for small business more generally and risks that could arise from this source. small businesses are a substantial part of the australian economy. they account for 70 per cent of employment and 40 per cent of production in the private nonfinancial sector. difficult conditions in small business could therefore have flow - on effects to the economy through decreasing employment and lower income for unincorporated enterprises, and hence to the health of households'balance sheets more broadly. and these effects are often particularly felt in regional areas where small businesses are part of the lifeblood of the community. furthermore, there could be impacts on banks'asset quality if non - performing loans rise. small businesses have been facing tighter credit conditions over the past year or so from a level that was already tight. over the past couple of years, lending to small businesses ( which includes businesses with annual turnover of less than $ 50 million ) has hardly grown at all, unlike lending to large businesses, which has grown by around five per cent per year on average ( graph 8 ). https : / / www. rba. gov. au / speeches / 2019 / sp - ag - 2019 - 08 - 08. html 10 / 13 08 / 08 / 2019 financial stability through the lens of business | speeches | rba graph 8 there are a number of reasons why small businesses are facing tighter credit conditions. [ 4 ] first, there is a more of a blurring in the line between lending to small business and personal credit. the obligations placed on financial institutions for lending to consumers ( under responsible