RBS - Reluctant Businesses Save

The state of business lending in Britain is proof of the adage that you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. Only, in this case, the government has not just sugared the water but is also serving it in a gilded cup. Despite a raft of new lending schemes - most recently Funding for Lending - companies are unwilling to visit their banks to drink from the well of extra debt. According to data from the Bank of England, businesses were paying an average of more than 7 per cent to borrow money five years ago. It now costs 2.6 per cent. But Friday's first half numbers from RBS showed that total assets in the corporate lending business were flat at about £114bn against the same period last year. It was a similar story at other banks.