This structural decline in interest rates has facilitated the increase in household debt ratios because it reduced debt-servicing costs (Table 1). Households have therefore found that they can now service more debt than used to be the case. 1  2  Note that there is no particular reason why household debt ratios should be the same across countries.
On the other hand, the smaller banks would do well to harness their core expertise in order to better serve their respective market niches. The highly global and complex banking scenario leaves no room for complacency for all banking industry players.