Although the loan report did not show a significant pickup in lending activity, it does support other data indicating a continued moderate growth pace in the US economy.
Details
For commercial and industrial loans, a net 7% of banks eased lending standards and a net 19% of banks reported increased demand for loans from large and medium firms, while 15% of banks indicated increased loan demand from small businesses.
A net 13% of banks had eased their lending standards for commercial real estate loans and 40% saw increased demand.
For the household sector, a net 13% reported increased willingness to make consumer instalment loans. In addition, lending standards were eased for all categories of consumer loans but less than in previous quarters. Demand for auto and other consumer loans increased for a net 25% and 9% of banks, while demand for credit card loans declined.
A net 29% of banks reported increased demand for prime residential mortgages, which is in line with the pickup in home sales seen recently. Further, a net 5% of banks had eased their lending standards for prime mortgages further.
The survey also included a number of special questions. First, banks were again asked to report whether they had tightened their lending standards towards banks headquartered in Europe. Only a small net fraction said they had tightened standards further.
Second, banks were asked about their outlook for loan asset quality in 2013. Respondents’ answers on the outlook for asset quality revealed that a moderate to proportion of banks expects improvements in credit quality in most major loan categories on balance.
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