Barclays Bank to fight UK government lending targets
Barclays Bank has today revealed the company will not sign up to any future government scheme whereby a certain amount of money must be made available for the small business market. The company believes that having a definitive target regarding the amount of money available to the small business arena could lead to irresponsible lending as banks are forced to chase lending targets towards the end of the program.
While there is no doubt that the UK banking arena is cutting back on investment in the small-business sector there is also no doubt that having a specific target in mind could lead to reckless lending. When you consider that reckless lending has been criticised by the UK government in the past then what stance can David Cameron and George Osborne really take against the comments made by Barclays Bank?
The truth is that lending will only be forthcoming as and when the UK economy is able to grow and there is a renewed need for services and products. Until that time you could argue that the banking sector is well within its rights to peg lending at current levels until the financial situation improves. Reasonable?
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