The monthly report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) shows UK businesses are finding a gradual improvement in the availability of company finance, though progress is painfully slow, there are signs that the banks are at last listening to the government pleas.
“Firms are not saying that credit conditions are getting better, but the severity of the disruption is no longer worsening as sharply as it was three months ago,” said CBI chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty.
Despite the repeated cuts in the base rate over half of the companies surveyed said that the cost of borrowing had remained stable over the last three months, but 35% reported an increase in the cost of existing credit during the same period.
Sixty two percent of companies looking to take out new loans found that the cost had increased during the three months.
The Bank of England in their own report expects loans to be made more readily available to businesses and households, but warns of lending terms being stricter, while the CBI report concluded that companies are not expecting credit conditions to improve greatly during the next three months.
0 comments so far
There are no comments for this post yet. Why not be the first by filling out the form below.