Business Loans Are Less Accessible for UK Companies

Small and medium businesses in the UK have become less successful applying for loans last year.

The latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics on Friday, October 28th, suggest that the availability of business loans was better in 2007 than in 2010.

For example, in 2008 88% of banks applying for loans were approved, whereas in 2010 this proportion fell to 65%.

The fall in the success rate in Great Britain was higher than in other countries. In Germany, for instance, the success rate fell from 85% to 76%. The steepest falls were registered in Ireland, Bulgaria and Denmark.

The Office for National Statistics has ot yet formed the lending data for 2011; however, the ONS experts believe that UK banks are not lending enough to businesses. Regional agents of the Bank of England regularly report that small and medium businesses are unable to get credit.

Banks, in their turn, claim that the number of loan applications from businesses has shrunk.