Lending hits record low

Company lending in the UK fell by the largest amount on record in July according to the Bank of England.

Bank loans fell by £15.5bn, the biggest drop since the bank started tracking business lending in 1998.

“Major UK lenders indicated that their stock of lending to businesses fell further in August,” the BoE said in its monthly ‘Trends in Lending’ report.

In more positive news, mortgage approvals rose in August for the seventh month in a row, from 53,000 in July to 57,000.