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Banks need to lend, says TUC
BANK lending to firms outside the finance and real estate sectors must more than double, claims a new TUC report.
The report, Banking after Vickers, says that government has indentified £450bn worth of vital physical investment but the current stock of bank loans to non-financial firms stands at £322bn.
The study says that banks would need to more than double their current level of lending to meet UK investment needs.
With the UK’s growth prospects dependent on greater investment and access to credit, particularly for SMEs, the report argues that reforming the banking sector is crucial. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Decades of under-investment, compounded by banks’ poor track record of lending outside of real estate and finance, have left the UK economy dangerously lopsided. Our economy is far too focused on finance and banking, and in the South East.
“Greater lending to SMEs and support for green investment is vital to our future economic prospects but our current banking system is woefully ill-equipped to lend.”
The report was published ahead of a TUC seminar on the future of banking.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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