They will be able to raise funds for business expansion more smoothly if they can make use of their accounts receivables as collateral. ABL is said to be more time-consuming compared with lending against real estate collateral.
On the inflation front, recent data continue to show a subdued rate of increase in consumer prices. For the three months ended in February, prices for personal consumption expenditures rose at an annual rate of 1–1/4 percent despite a further steep run-up in energy prices; core inflation, which excludes prices of food and energy, slowed to an annual rate of 1/2 percent.