The provision of cross-border bank credit reached a record high.

Global bank liquidity grew in the first quarter as cross-border credit rose to record heights, according to new data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

In a new report, the BIS said there was a “significant expansion” in the global stock of cross-border bank credit in the first quarter, which rose by $1.5 trillion (all figures in U.S. dollars) to a record $34.7 trillion — topping the pre-financial crisis peak of $33.6 trillion.

The increase was largely driven by lending to non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), which posted an annual growth rate of 14%, outpacing total credit growth of 7% over the same period, the BIS said.

Most of the flows to NBFIs came from major advanced economies and financial centres, it noted — led by flows into NBFIs in the Cayman Islands ($237 billion), Japan ($131 billion) and the U.K. ($88 billion), with most of that coming from banks in the U.S., France and the U.K.

Additionally, the BIS global liquidity indicators — which track total credit to non-bank borrowers, including both bank loans and funding from international bond markets — experienced “elevated or rising” growth rates in the first quarter.

Specifically, the BIS reported that year-over-year growth in foreign currency U.S. dollar credit was 5% in the first quarter, up from 3% in the previous quarter, to $13.7 trillion. At the same time, euro-denominated credit rose at a 10% rate, and yen credit grew by 6%.

“While the growth rates of dollar and euro foreign currency credit have been rising since 2023, the growth rate of yen credit outside of Japan, though still robust, has been falling since the third quarter of 2024,” it noted.

The slowdown in yen credit came after monetary tightening started in Japan, following two years of strong growth, the BIS said.