The rate of increase in lending to the building industry remains high. Consumer credit is tending to expand for structural reasons. Loans to firms are growing faster than GDP. The increase in lending in the twelve months ending in May was 3.7 per cent nationally and 6.5 per cent in the South.
The restoration of a climate of complete confidence among banks, firms and savers is necessary in order to ensure firms the support of credit in the face of important due dates and to finance the hoped-for expansion of activity in the second half of this year and in 2005.