In World Economy News 14/01/2017
U.K. banks expect availability of secured credit to households to increase in three months to March, the Credit Conditions Survey from the Bank of England showed Friday.
The secured credit availability to households remained unchanged in three months to December, but it is forecast to rise slightly over the next three months.
At the same time, demand for secured lending for house purchases increased slightly in the fourth quarter. For the first quarter, lenders forecast overall demand to remain unchanged.
The availability of unsecured credit to households rose slightly in the fourth quarter but was seen falling slightly in the first quarter.
Further, survey showed that availability of credit to the corporate sector was reported to have been unchanged in the final months of 2016. Lenders reported the availability to remain unchanged for firms of all sizes.
Lenders said that overall demand for corporate lending from small and medium-sized businesses decreased significantly in the fourth quarter. Demand from small businesses was expected to drop again in the first quarter, while for medium businesses it was expected to increase slightly.
Default rates on secured loans to households declined in the fourth quarter and are expected to remain unchanged in the first quarter.
Lenders said default rates on loans to small businesses increased slightly for the first time since the third quarter of 2014. Default rates on loans to medium businesses also increased.
Losses given default on loans were unchanged for small, medium and large businesses. The survey was conducted between November 21 and December 9.
Source: RTT
