The Bank of England has begun a new monthly publication that presents the Bank’s assessment of lending to the UK economy. The Bank say, this first report provides a longer-term perspective and is therefore more comprehensive than will be the case for future editions.
The report draws on existing monetary and financial statistics collected by the Bank and data from six major UK lenders that participate on the Lending Panel established by the Chancellor in November 2008. The report also draws on intelligence gathered by the Bank’s regional Agents and market contacts, as well as the results of other surveys.
The main findings of the report are:
- Growth in the stock of lending to UK businesses slowed markedly during 2008 but looking ahead, some lenders expect the overall availability of credit to the corporate sector to increase over the next three months.
- Growth in the stock of mortgage lending to individuals has slowed sharply since the start of the financial crisis as credit availability declined. Lenders expect the demand for secured credit to remain weak in coming months.
- The availability of unsecured credit has tightened over the past year and weak demand for unsecured lending is expected to continue over the coming months.
