Moody’s: Australian banks asset quality remains strong

Reuters reporting key highlights from Moody's latest Australian banking sector report.

Key Points:

Funding profiles, capitalization of Australian banks improved in six months to March 2017, but that asset quality deteriorated moderately

Asset quality remains strong, but residential mortgage problem loan ratios deteriorated modestly due to exposures to resources-focused regions

Australian bank creditworthiness retains heightened sensitivity to economic deterioration, due to banking sector's heavy focus on residential mortgage lending

Expects the impact of announced regulatory housing market cooling measures in Australia may take some time to be felt fully

With regards to capital, the major banks' in Australia maintained an improving trend