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2026-05-25 12:15:18
[British Business Loans Plunge to 30-Year Low, Small Business Credit Severely Crushed] 1. According to the Financial Times, British banks' lending to domestic businesses has fallen to its lowest point in nearly 30 years, impacted by weak economic growth and continued tightening of regulations on financial institutions. This trend has particularly squeezed the supply of credit to small businesses, making it sharply more difficult for SMEs to obtain traditional bank financing. 2. Analysis indicates that capital and liquidity regulatory reforms implemented after the financial crisis have prompted the banking system to gradually withdraw from high-risk lending areas, while the still nascent private lending sector has not filled the gap in the SME financing market, exacerbating the credit shortage in this area. 3. A March report from the Department for Business, Industry and Commerce showed that the success rate of businesses applying for bank loans has fallen below 50%, far lower than the 67% approval rate in 2018. British fintech company Allica Bank also disclosed that SME lending has experienced a "sharp contraction" of up to £65 billion over the past 25 years. 4. Faced with the pressure of credit tightening, the British government has convened a meeting with senior executives from major banks such as HSBC, NatWest Bank, and Lloyds Bank to discuss solutions to the financing difficulties of SMEs. At the same time, the Treasury is working to reform post-crisis banking "fence" rules, attempting to release up to £80 billion of dormant capital to stimulate lending to the real economy.
