CNB leaves countercyclical capital buffer rate at 2.00%

The CNB Bank Board decided today to leave the countercyclical capital buffer rate for exposures located in the Czech Republic at 2.00%. 

The CNB set this rate at a non-zero level for the first time at the end of 2015. The latest change in the rate occurred on 23 May 2019, when the Bank Board decided to increase it to 2.00% with effect from 1 July 2020.

The countercyclical capital buffer was introduced as an important macroprudential policy instrument in the European Union in 2014. Obliged institutions are required to create this buffer on the basis of the regulator’s instructions in periods of excessive growth in lending. Excessive lending growth usually increases financial imbalances and leads to a rise in systemic risk. By contrast, at times of falling economic activity, accompanied by rising credit losses, this buffer should be released so that non-financial corporations and households continue to have access to loans without excessively tight conditions.

More details on this decision are available in the Provision of a general nature on setting the countercyclical capital buffer rate for the Czech Republic I/2020, which will be published on 6 March 2020.

Markéta Fišerová
Director of the Communications Division and CNB spokesperson

• The countercyclical capital buffer is set in the Czech Republic by the Czech National Bank on a quarterly basis in a document entitled Provision of a general nature on setting the countercyclical capital buffer rate. It is intended to protect the banking sector against risks arising over the financial cycle. These include in particular risks stemming from excessive growth in lending, which contributes to the build-up of systemic risks and increases the potential for sharp fluctuations in economic activity.
• More information about the countercyclical capital buffer on the CNB website
• Information about the setting of the countercyclical capital buffer in other European countries on the website of the European Systemic Risk Board (external link)