is increasing, year - on - year growth in bank credit to both the household and non - financial corporate sectors remains negative. against this background, the countercyclical capital buffer ( ccyb ) rate on banks ’ irish exposures is maintained at zero per cent. the countercyclical capital buffer ( ccyb ) is a time varying capital requirement which applies to inscope banks and investment firms. it is designed to make the banking system more resilient and less pro - cyclical. essentially the ccyb will increase the capital requirement of banks if we see credit growth becoming “ excessive ". it can then be released, partially or fully, either in the case of a period of systemic stress or when credit growth and associated systemic risks recede. the review shows that credit growth to smes remains negative across all sub - sectors as firms continue to deleverage. new lending to smes, however, has been rising since early 2014. a large decline in npl rates across all categories of sme / corporate loans has been evident in recent years, although more than 10 per cent of loans are non - performing and substantial sectoral variation in npl rates arises. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches some categories of household credit are showing positive growth, including non - mortgage credit and mortgage lending at fixed rates. the overall rate of growth in mortgage loans remains negative as floating interest rate mortgage lending continues to fall. while household debt has been declining, the sector remains highly indebted, at €143. 8 billion in 2016q4, leaving it vulnerable to a rise in interest rates. those in the 30 – 44 age category have high debt - to - income ratios relative to other age cohorts and by international comparison. the overall number of mortgage arrears cases has declined by 44 per cent since 2013q2. almost half of mortgage arrears cases are in very long term arrears. turning now to the irish commercial real estate ( cre ) market, 2016 continued to see high total returns. the commercial property vacancy rate was 13. 5 per cent in 2016q4. it is much lower for the dublin office sector, at 7 per cent in 2017q1. a substantial amount of new office supply is under construction, being planned, or at pre - planning stage. the commercial real estate market has also seen a broadening of its investor base in recent years. the possibility of firms seeking to relocate to ireland as a

real economy and avoid a credit crunch. 2. a globally symmetric crisis calls for a globally coordinated policy response. it is a symmetric crisis in a global scale, affecting both advanced economies and emerging and developing countries. it is illustrative that the imf is flooded with emergency financing requests from a vast number of countries : by now 102 out of 189 members have requested imf emergency financing. in order to be able to help its members and safeguard global stability, it is imperative that the imf has sufficient resources. finland, as well as its nordic - baltic constituency at the imf, has always been a resolute supporter of a strong and adequately resourced imf, at the centre of the global financial safety net. given the high uncertainty about the length and severity of the crisis, [ and the external financing needs of the poorest countries with fragile health systems, ] we must keep the door open for 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches further measures. specifically, in my view, there is an evident case for a new general allocation of sdrs, as part of the imf ’ s crisis - fighting package. this would be in line with the actions of central banks in all main currency areas who have taken swift action to support liquidity and market functioning. the federal reserve quickly engaged in aggressive balance sheet expansion and established swap lines with several other central banks to support us dollar liquidity. the ecb has done the same to safeguard euro liquidity. as the larger central banks like the federal reserve and the european central bank are providing ample liquidity and preventing a credit crunch by their bold actions, why should we not amplify this liquidity - producing impact in the global context through a new sdr allocation? 3. in europe, the ecb and the eurosystem as a whole have launched a very substantial monetary stimulus and other credit - enhancing measures. it is imperative, as the euro area economies are estimated to contract roughly by between 5 – 15 % this year. last month the ecb started a new pandemic emergency purchase programme ( pepp ), buying both public and private sector bonds up to 750 billion euros to ensure favourable financing conditions. together with its other programmes, the ecb ’ s net asset purchases will amount to more than 1 trillion euros this year. furthermore, via a new targeted lending facility with substantially more favourable terms than previously, the ecb can provide liquidity to banks at a negative rate for up to 3 trillion euros. this