The Agenda
How small-business issues are shaping politics and policy.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reported a modest bit of good news from the banking world on Tuesday.
In the second quarter of the year, bank failures were down, troubled banks were fewer and bank profits were up. And the F.D.I.C. said that “loan portfolios grew for the first time in three years.” According to the agency’s release, the bulk of the lending growth came in commercial and industrial loans as well as loans between banks.
Ah, business lending, then, is back! Well, not so fast. Yes, top-line commercial lending is up, but a closer look shows one segment of loans that did not increase: those to small businesses. According to the F.D.I.C., while the nation’s total commercial and industrial loan portfolio grew by $34 billion, or almost 3 percent, total outstanding loans to small businesses actually fell by $2.5 billion, or 0.4 percent.
Small-business loans are defined as those of $1 million or less, but exclude agricultural loans and loans secured by farmland. As of the end of June, the total commercial and industrial loan portfolio amounted to $1.2 trillion. Small-business loans made up almost exactly half of that, or $607 billion.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=c52812d5ca8ef699d695f4d3ced5d311
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