Central Bank had mulled loosening mortgage rules during Covid-19 crisis but opted for unchanged measures through 2021      

The bank's decision to leave its mortgage rules unchanged was the eye-catching measure in the report.

Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland Gabriel Makhlouf said the “extraordinary circumstances” of the Covid crisis had so far not led to widespread business failures. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The Central Bank during the worst of the Covid-19 crisis weighed loosening its mortgage lending rules that help determine the amounts of home loans in the banking system, but thought it better to leave the measures unchanged through 2021.

Talking to reporters on the bank’s latest Financial Stability Review, governor Gabriel Makhlouf said he expects more household and business loans to sour as the Covid emergency runs its course, but that Irish banks were in much better financial health in this crisis to weather the losses.