UK government-backed lending to SMEs rises to 4.1 bln pounds

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Government-backed bank lending
to small and medium-sized British businesses hit by the
coronavirus rose to 4.1 billion pounds ($5.1 billion) as of
April 28, up from 2.8 billion pounds the week before, trade body
UK Finance said on Thursday.

The Bank of England has criticised banks for the slow pace
of lending under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan
scheme, which is 80% government-backed, and on Monday the
government launched a new scheme for 100%-backed loans of up to
50,000 pounds for the smallest firms.

Lenders had received 52,807 CBILS applications from
businesses by April 28, of which 25,262 had been approved so
far, compared with around a cumulative 36,000 applications and
16,624 applications the previous week.
($1 = 0.8016 pounds)
(Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce)