Indeed, many of our contacts for the Beige Book, which was published today, highlighted tight and tightening credit conditions, and, in increasing numbers, indicated that a lack of credit availability is negatively affecting their customers' ability to spend or impairing their own ability to maintain the normal working capital they need to manage their day-to-day operations.
Although the revised Basel II framework is part of a solution to this problem, broader reforms are necessary. These might include capital surcharges for systemically important institutions, better resolution regimes as well as a stronger market infrastructure. On the whole, the G20 agenda is a very ambitious endeavour to strengthen the resilience of the financial system.