EBA observed an increasing encumbrance ratio in 2021 albeit with some signs of stabilisation

• Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the encumbrance ratio continued an upward trend but remained roughly stable in the second half of 2021.
• Banks kept making extensive use of central bank funding and more than 50% of their central bank eligible-assets and collateral are now encumbered.
• Increasing encumbrance ratios might lead to adverse feedback loops of higher encumbrance and higher funding costs.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its annual Asset Encumbrance Report. The Report highlights that banks continued to make extensive use of central bank funding in 2021. As a result, the overall encumbrance ratio rose by 2.2 percentage points in 2021 to 29.1%.

Notes to editors

Key indicators have been visualised in a dynamic way. To facilitate the navigation, here is the full list of key indicators that you can find in the graphs:

Slide 1 Evolution of the encumbrance ratio of total assets and collateral received.

Slide 2 Encumbrance ratio by country.

Slide 3 Distribution of sources of encumbrance.

The figures included in the Asset Encumbrance Report are based on a sample of 154 banks as of December 2021, covering more than 80% of the EU/EEA banking sector by total assets.