The Small Business Credit Crunch May Be at a Turning Point

The Small Business Credit Crunch May Be at a Turning Point

Tuesday, August 25,2009 04:54 AM

Is the credit crunch for small businesses approaching an end? There's a hopeful sign in the survey of senior loan officers out from the Fed today: One of the 55 banks survey reported that it had eased credit standards for lending to small firms (under $50 million in sales) over the past three months.

Of course, 19 reported tightening standards over the past three months, and most said they stayed the same. The chart below tracks the net percentage of banks tightening lending standards--as long as the dotted line is above zero, that means that on the whole more banks surveyed have tightened credit than eased it over the past quarter.

Read the rest at:http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/running_small_business/archives/2009/08/is_the_credit_c.html