Lending to British companies and individuals fell during April, data published yesterday revealed, suggesting that the Bank of England?s programme of quantitative easing may have had little impact to date.
The Bank revealed that lending to ?private nonfinancial corporations? ? the business sector apart from the banks ? fell by £4.7 billion in April. This was the biggest monthly decrease since records began more than a decade ago.
Separately, the Bank also published figures suggesting that the biggest sellers of gilts ? government bonds ? during April were overseas institutions, suggesting that much of the money being pumped into the economy via the Bank?s purchases of gilts had ?leaked? overseas. Overseas institutions dumped £10.9 billion-worth of gilts during April, much of which is thought to have been bought by the Bank, which purchased £28.8 billion-worth of gilts during the month. [...]