THE UK’s top five banks were nearly £1bn behind their Project Merlin targets for lending to small businesses at the end of September, official figures revealed yesterday.
Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and Santander UK lent £56.1bn to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the first nine months of the year, the Bank of England said.
Under the Project Merlin agreement, struck with government earlier this year, the banks said they would increase lending to SMEs to £76bn this year, which equates to £19bn in the first quarter, or £57bn by the end of the third quarter.
However, the banks are on course to beat the target of £190bn for gross lending to all businesses, including SMEs, after extending £157bn in the first nine months of 2011.
Terry Scuoler, chief executive of EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said it was concerning that the target for SMEs, who face the most difficulties accessing finance, was not being met.
