The most pronounced slowing has been in the issuance of short-term debt as banks have sought to lengthen the average maturity of their funding by increasing the share of long-term debt in total funding (Graph 4). 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Graph 4  There are reasonable grounds to expect these trends may be sustained for some period to come.
In particular, if one thinks about the composition of growth in Australia in the period ahead, it is likely to be investment-intensive. But much of that investment is likely to be funded by companies which are cash-rich or tap global capital markets directly.