According to recent surveys conducted by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), financing conditions continued to be ranked as the top business concern by only a modest fraction (less than 5 percent) of small businesses; in contrast, about onethird of respondents cited poor sales as their most important problem.
Commercial bank responses to the SLOOS continue to indicate reduced demand for loans from small businesses. Similarly, a poll conducted by the Independent Community Bankers of America on January 8 revealed that a lack of loan demand was the factor most frequently cited by member institutions as constraining small business lending.