Banks have committed £2.8 billion in emergency government-backed loans to small businesses, almost doubling the level of a week ago.
Royal Bank of Scotland, the largest lender to businesses, has approved £1.2 billion, Lloyds has lent £335 million, Barclays £586 million and HSBC £480.5 million. The number of approvals more than doubled, adding 9,000 loans, according to weekly figures from UK Finance.
Many businesses are still struggling to get funds and are frustrated by the scheme’s complexity. The British Chambers of Commerce wants banks and the government to make the system easier and said that this was a crunch week.
Alex Brazier, the Bank of England’s executive director for financial stability, said that banks had been given support from the authorities to lend and they
