With CIT garnering headlines over the past week in terms of its own fate but that of many small businesses reliant on it, on Friday the Fed released its weekly balance sheet data for commercial banks for the week ended July 8th and we can see what the business lending trends are. Commercial and Industrial loans (the most important with respect to business lending) outstanding fell to the lowest level since March ’08. Some will cite the banks unwillingness to lend whether its due to tighter lending standards and economic concerns but there also continues to be a reduction in the demand for loans.
