Companies across the UK have lowered their growth forecasts for the coming year, perhaps hinting that more managers will soon be forced to turn to business loans to make ends meet.
According to the business barometer from Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets for March 2007, 50 per cent of firms questioned predicted that their business activity would increase over the coming 12 months.
To put this into context, the comparable figure in February was 69 per cent.
It comes after the events of February 27th, when stock market valuations stuttered across the globe - apparently as a result of fears that Chinese investments were overpriced.
Trevor Williams, chief economist at Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets, admitted that fluctuating investments had impacted upon business confidence in recent weeks.
"The unpredictable stock market performance this month has forced UK firms to take a sense check on their activity expectations for the coming year," he said.
Companies anticipating a difficult trading year may wish to consider taking out business loans.
These can enable firms to receive an immediate boost in capital, accompanied by low loan repayments over an extended time interval.




