NAB’s Ross McEwan: I have never seen anything like this

New NAB chief Ross McEwan has told parliament he has never seen such an immediate and deep ­impact on the economy before.

NAB chief executive Ross McEwan Picture: AAP

New National Australia Bank chief executive Ross McEwan has told parliament he has never seen such an immediate and deep ­impact on the economy as the one triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to Liberal MP Tim Wilson, chairman of the House Economics Committee, Mr Mc­Ewan also said many of NAB’s customers had lost their jobs, and many businesses that were successful now had zero cash flow.

“In my 35-year career in ­finance, I have never seen such immediate and deep impact on the economy and the health of the global community as that caused by this pandemic,” said Mr ­McEwan, who last year moved to NAB after several years as the chief executive of the UK’s Royal Bank of Scotland.

“Our response to COVID-19 has required a rapid and significant change in the way our 34,000 employees work, with more than 80 per cent — including our customer-facing teams — working from home.

“We are working side by side with Australian governments and the regulators to offer support to the economy and the community.

“We support the ­measures ­announced by the federal government, the Reserve Bank of Australia and APRA that are helping to stabilise the financial system and protect Australians.”

The four major-bank chief executives were due to appear before Mr Wilson’s committee in June. However, the arrival of the pandemic prompted a rescheduling, with the CEOs providing ­answers to questions on notice in the meantime.

The questions cover progress on the implementation of recommendations from the financial services royal commission, and responses to COVID-19.

ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott said in his covering letter that his bank had focused its resources on supporting its customers and communities, employees and the Australian economy during the pandemic.

“We believe it is strongly in the interests of both customers and the bank that we take a long-term view and work closely with ­customers in a flexible and ­responsive way,” Mr Elliott said.

Westpac said the virus had ­required the bank to adapt in its ­delivery of services, with more customers doing their banking digitally and increased log-ons to internet banking.

Commonwealth Bank said it had worked closely with the ­federal government to implement various packages and initiatives, and had drawn on its strong capital position to take “decisive action”.

Mr McEwan said he also ­welcomed the advice from the federal and state governments that they were working towards lifting restrictions as soon as it was safe to do so.

“Providing certainty for businesses on the pathway to recovery is critical,” the NAB chief said. “I support the government’s COVIDSafe app for this reason, and have downloaded it on my phone and am encouraging ­others to do the same.”

CBA said in its covering letter that supporting Australians and helping the economy recover “will be a long task”.

Measures including loan deferrals and providing loans to businesses “are just the beginning of this effort”, CBA said.

“We remain committed to delivering on this task and, as with all our efforts to rebuilt trust, we expect to be judged not by words, but by actions and outcomes.”

Westpac said the outbreak of COVID-19 in Australia was having “a profound impact on our customers”.

Westpac noted that since ­announcing a series of relief packages in March, the bank had processed 105,070 home loan ­repayment deferrals.

The bank said there would be “no impact” on credit scores for these customers seeking relief.