Business lending up in Britain

LONDON, April 21 (UPI) -- The Bank of England said Tuesday lending to businesses grew in March and would likely continue to grow in the next three months.

Analyzing data from six banks, England's central bank said lending to businesses grew from $13 billion in February to $17.4 billion in March, The Times of London reported.

Although much of the lending was due to refinancing or restructuring debt, "some lenders expect the overall availability of credit to the corporate sector to increase over the next three months," the Bank of England said in a statement.

The bank has taken a series of steps to increase the availability of credit, including cuts in key bank lending rates, quantitative easing to increase the money supply and an Asset Protection Scheme to insure existing risks.

"The survey suggests that the various policy measures undertaken by both the central bank and the government to boost bank lending are starting to have a beneficial impact," said Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight.

"It raises hopes that credit conditions will increasingly become less of a constraint on economic activity over the coming months," he said.