Measures of lending - grow in March

The figures contrast with the findings of the Treasury Committee, which said that many small businesses were struggling to borrow. There were also figures from the Bank of England that suggested the growth in mortgage lending is likely to continue. Mortgage approvals for house purchase grew to 39,230 from 37,716 in February. Total net lending to individuals rose £900m in March, which was well below February's rise of £1.5bn and the £1.6bn average over the past six months. Actual mortgage lending, as opposed to mortgage approvals, grew by £800m, which was significantly less than had been expected and well below the average increase of £1.2bn over the past six months. 'Inconsistency' The Treasury Committee found that businesses were having to pay much higher interest rates and borrowing charges. "There is clearly an unresolved inconsistency between, on the one hand, bankers' assurances that they are increasing their lending and, on the other hand, widespread and clearly sincere complaints that credit is difficult to obtain and increasingly expensive," said the committee's chairman John McFall. But the BBA said that the committee had been misled by a few disgruntled customers."The stock of lending to small businesses is around 5% higher than a year ago and has risen in each of the first three months of 2009, reflecting general banking support and individual bank pledges to make finance available," said BBA statistics director David Dooks. Deposits by small businesses grew £881m in March.

Source :news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8028439.stm