Lending To Small Businesses Grows At Slowest Rate For Five Years

Fri, 09 Jul 2010

Bank lending to UK businesses last year slowed at a considerable rate, according to latest figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA).

The BBA data shows that Britain’s banks lent just £900m to small businesses in 2009, which is less than a quarter of the average annual rate for the past five years.

The total amount of business loans lent to small firms reached £55.3bn last year – up from £54.4bn the previous year. In comparison, business lending rose by around £4bn in each of the previous five years.

The BBA said the latest statistics reflected a "reduction in demand for credit". It added that another growing trend is the "increasing willingness by customers to pay off loans and to increase savings ".

However, a spokesman for lobby group the Federation of Small Businesses argued that demand for credit was as strong as in previous years, and said that small firms are "losing faith in the banks" because of the rising cost of finance .
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