This article presents the results of an investigation into the extent of loan forbearance in the SME sector and its implications for productivity and financial system resilience. Around 6% of SME borrowers were estimated to be in receipt of some form of loan forbearance in March 2013. This...

The flow of new bank lending to UK households and businesses fell sharply following the start of the global financial crisis in mid-2007. That provoked an ongoing debate about the extent to which the sustained weakening of bank lending was caused by a fall in demand for credit, or a fall in...