LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - British banks' lending to firms
hit by the coronavirus under the government's main loan
guarantee scheme for small and medium-sized firms has risen to
5.5 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) from 4.1 billion pounds last
week, industry data showed on Thursday.
Regulators and politicians have criticised banks for the
slow pace of lending under the Coronavirus Business Interruption
Loan Scheme (CBIL), which is 80% guaranteed by the taxpayer.
UK Finance, the trade body for lenders, said its members had
approved 33,812 of the 62,674 completed loan applications they
had received as of May 6.
This represents a growing number of rejected or unprocessed
applications compared with the 52,807 applications received up
to April 28, of which 25,262 were approved.
"Any financing provided under the CBIL or BBL schemes is a
debt not a grant, and so firms should carefully consider their
ability to repay before applying," UK Finance's chief executive,
Stephen Jones, said.
($1 = 0.8088 pounds)
(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Michael Holden)
