1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i COVID-19-Related Impact on the Banking Industry: Conditions in the Second Quarter 2021 October 13, 2021 Bank regulation is designed to allow banks to withstand some amount of unexpected losses. Some observers have worried
2、that the economic ramifications of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could result in enough borrowers missing loan payments to cause distress for banks. This Insight presents bank industry statistics through the second quarter 2021 and examines how the pandemic might be affecting the
3、industry. Background Economic downturns jeopardize bank income as the likelihood of losses from missed payments increases, ultimately reducing bank profitability. Meanwhile, bank liabilitiesthe deposits they hold and the debt they oweobligate banks to make funds available to depositors and creditors
4、. If borrower repayments decline enough, a banks ability to meet its obligations could become impaired, potentially causing it to fail. In contrast, bank capitallargely equity stock and retained profits from earlier periodsenables a bank to absorb a certain amount of losses without failing. For this
