Via FT.com / UK / Economy & Trade – Companies pay down debts.
The bank debt held by companies fell for the first time since records began in 1997, in a sign of the credit squeeze facing smaller businesses.
The data from the Bank of England support Alistair Darling’s claims this week that in spite of the tens of billions of pounds spent on rescuing banks, companies are still struggling to gain access to finance.
Meanwhile, separate figures from the Bank suggested that its programme to pump £125bn into the economy has so far delivered disappointing results.
