Word: credite
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...true that credit standards for business lending haven't tightened, as illustrated by the Federal Reserve's monthly loan-officer survey. And as Fed governor Elizabeth Duke pointed out in a speech on Feb. 26, those tougher standards could be having a disproportionate effect on small businesses. "Credit conditions may be particularly tight for small businesses because their finances are, in many instances, very closely intertwined with the personal finances of their owners," she said. For example, the owner of a small business who also owns a house may see a lower home price weigh down the creditworthiness...
...many ways, the tightened credit make sense. We are living in the aftermath of the greatest credit bubble since the Roaring '20s, after all. Standards were too loose and had to change. At the same time, problems at many banks are contributing to the new, more conservative lending stance. Souring real estate loans are driving dozens of banks out of business. Since the beginning of the year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has taken over 30 failing institutions...
...around. Part of that has to do with many small banks' capital constraints - money they would lend is still tied up in those real estate loans. Just as important, though, other places business owners have looked to for funding in recent years, like home-equity loans and credit lines from nonbank finance companies like CIT, aren't likely to bounce back to their former glory anytime soon...
...other words, the real small-business credit crunch may be yet to come...
...Since the start of the year, it has become clear that such concerns are shared by the central government in Beijing, which is seeking to tighten credit growth generally, and property loans in particular. The latest budget report from the Ministry of Finance, released to coincide with the opening of the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 5, draws attention to debt levels being incurred by local governments forging headlong into massive infrastructural and development projects. Even as it was being distributed, Premier Wen Jiabao was telling NPC delegates that the authorities would slow both lending...