Coverage: weekly note · Information to 10 August 2026
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TGB Weekly Research Note · 10 August 2026
BIS data for end-March 2026 show cross-border bank credit up 11% year on year, with growth spread across banks, non-bank financial institutions, emerging markets and both major funding currencies.
The desk view
The BIS statistical release of 31 July 2026 shows cross-border bank credit rising by $1.7 trillion in Q1 2026 to $39.5 trillion, an 11% year-on-year increase. The BIS described the expansion as broad-based across instruments and counterparty sectors. Three strands matter for bank executives. Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) absorbed $651 billion of new credit, concentrated among a handful of borrowers and lenders. Emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) received $148 billion, mostly in Africa and the Middle East and in emerging Europe. US dollar and euro credit both posted their largest quarterly rises since the onset of Covid-19. Our reading is that the breadth of the expansion is the signal, but a first-quarter seasonal effect and a sharp swing in NBFI lending argue for caution in extrapolating it.
Growth across instruments and sectors
Cross-border bank claims rose by $2.1 trillion in Q1 2026 to $47.6 trillion, on an exchange rate- and break-adjusted basis. Within that, credit (loans, deposits and debt securities) rose by $1.7 trillion. Loans and deposits contributed $1.2 trillion and debt securities $0.6 trillion, growing at 11% and 12% a year respectively. Credit to banks rose by $632 billion, taking its annual growth to 11%, the highest since the onset of Covid-19, while credit to non-banks rose by $1.1 trillion, a 12% annual pace.
The momentum predates this quarter. Cross-border credit grew by 11% in 2025, its fastest year-on-year rate since Q1 2008, and annual growth has been positive for five years. One caveat is seasonal: banks typically expand balance sheets in the first quarter, and on a seasonally adjusted basis the rise in claims was around $1.6 trillion, which the BIS still called the largest post-pandemic quarterly expansion.
Cross-border bank credit, Q1 2026
| Segment | Q1 2026 change | Annual growth |
|---|---|---|
| Total credit | $1.7tn | 11% |
| Credit to banks | $632bn | 11% |
| Credit to non-banks | $1.1tn | 12% |
| US dollar credit | $793bn | 12% |
| Euro credit | $597bn | 11% |