Australia still working through macroprudential policy options: official

Sydney

AUSTRALIA is still working on possible tools to strengthen mortgage-lending practices and cool an unbalanced housing market, the chairman of the nation's banking regulator has said.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Apra) is looking at the ability of borrowers to repay in a rising interest-rate environment, interest-only loans and "extremely" long tenure mortgages, Wayne Byres said. The supervisor is also examining an increase in landlord housing loans and the potential need to raise bank capital requirements if risks rise, he added.

While regulators would like to unveil measures before the end of this year, there wasn't a deadline, Mr Byres revealed. "I'd much rather make the right decision than just adhere to an internally imposed deadline," Mr Byres said at a parliamentary committee hearing on F…