LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Lending to small businesses bybanks in Britain taking part in the Bank of England's Fundingfor Lending Scheme (FLS) fell by 800 million pounds ($1.2billion) in the fourth quarter, the BoE said on Thursday.
The FLS was launched in mid-2012 to provide cheap money tobanks on condition that they lend to British businesses andhouseholds. It was amended at the start of 2014 to focus onsmall business lending.
Total lending to businesses in the fourth quarter byparticipants in the scheme, which included credit to large firmsand some other lending, sank by 6.9 billion pounds.
The Bank of England said lending to small firms contractedat a slower rate in 2014 as a whole than it did in 2013.
The scheme was extended to run for a further year inDecember 2014. The BoE said on Thursday that participants willbe able to draw down funds until Jan. 29, 2016.($1 = 0.6440 pounds) (Reporting by Matt Scuffham, editing by Sinead Cruise)
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