British banks wrote off a record amount of loans to businesses last year, according to figures published today by the Bank of England.

In the latest sign of the stresses facing both businesses and the financiers from whom they borrowed, banks wrote off some £7.57bn of loans to non-financial corporations in 2011. The figure was 17% higher than the £6.45bn written off in 2010 and far higher than the pre-crisis annual total of £1.14bn in 2007. The figures help explain why banks have been so reluctant to lend more to businesses in recent years, knowing that there is an increasing chance of the loans going bad.

And although these statistics lag Britain’s broader economic performance, they underline the difficulties banks are still facing. It means that for the first time on record, banks are now writing off more cash lent to businesses than to individuals. The value of household loans written off dropped from £9.7bn in 2010 to £6.9bn last year, the figures showed....Read more here--: Banks Wrote Off A Record Amount Of Loans To Businesses In 2011