The figures saw a rise in overdraft lending in January, consistent with a similar rise a year earlier, while a significant fall in deposits was partly a reaction to an unusually large rise in December (as businesses retained cash), and partly the usual fall seen at the start of a year.
BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said of the latest data, “The start of this year saw the monthly value of new lending remain above £500 million a month. Lending to this particular part of the business sector has grown by 2% over the last year, even with the winter months seeing the usual lower demand for bank finance and comparisons with the same time a year ago showing relatively weaker lending. Trading conditions for small businesses continues to be difficult, but after December’s seasonal low number of new relationships, it is encouraging to see small businesses opening bank accounts in similar numbers to previous months.”
