Banking turmoil could be revived if credit conditions keep tightening and the Fed stays hawkish, Morgan Stanley's chief bond strategist says

• Morgan Stanley's chief fixed income strategist says banking sector turmoil isn't over.
• Vishy Tirupattur cites tightening credit conditions and the Fed's rate hikes as potential risks.

Vishy Tirupattur, the chief fixed income strategist at Morgan Stanley, says that turmoil within the global banking sector isn't in the rearview mirror just yet.

Tightening credit conditions and the US central bank's interest rate hikes could pose more issues for the banking system, the bond chief told Bloomberg on Tuesday.

"We will not be so confident that the challenges from March in the banking sector are behind us," Tirupattur said, forecasting lingering liquidity-related tension for firms.

Silicon Valley Bank collapsed last month after depositors pulled $42 billion from the tech-focused lender in a single day. Shortly after, Signature Bank was seized by regulators, while crypto bank Silvergate decided to wind down its operations the same week. The episode marked the worst bank crisis since 2008 and caused a plunge in shares of regional banks while snarling financial markets throughout March.

Although it's been several weeks since the last casualty, and since big banks and the government stepped in to stabilize the situation, Tirupattur says there's a lot more that could still play out.

"The fact remains that the banking system as a whole [has a] dependence on the Fed facilities," he said, citing the discount window and the Bank Term Funding Program. "[It's] still pretty high...Around $140 billion of borrowing is happening."

He added: "To us, that suggests that there is still a lot of residual tension related to liquidity within the banking system.. That does not indicate to us that the banking challenges that we're facing are behind us."