LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - Some of Britain's biggestfinancial institutions said they were ready to lend more after adecision by the Bank of England to cut their capitalrequirements, according to a joint statement with financeminister George Osborne on Tuesday.
The Bank of England, which is trying to ease the hit to theeconomy from last month's vote to leave the European Union, saidit would lower the amount of capital banks are required to holdin reserve, potentially freeing up an extra 150 billion pounds($196 billion) for lending.
"Now the UK's main lenders, meeting with the Chancellor thismorning, have agreed to make the extra capital available tosupport lending to UK businesses and households in thischallenging time," the lenders and Osborne said.
Osborne met with the chairmen or directors of Virgin Money, Santander UK, HSBC, Metro Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide BuildingSociety, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group. (Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)