LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - Britain's banks have provided
2.8 billion pounds ($3.5 billion)in emergency loans to small and
medium-sized companies under a government-backed scheme to help
businesses survive the coronavirus lockdown, an industry group
said on Thursday.
UK Finance said total lending under the Coronavirus Business
Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) had grown by 1.45 billion
pounds in the week from April 14.
Some businesses have said they have struggled to use the
scheme to get access to cash quickly.
UK Finance said lenders have received over 36,000 completed
applications so far, of which 16,624 had been approved to date.
Last week Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey urged banks
to speed up their handling of applications.
($1 = 0.7994 pounds)
($1 = 0.8103 pounds)
(Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Sarah Young)