Finance available, but at a price

• The overall cost of credit increased for a balance of 11% of companies in the past two months, the highest balance since the end of 2012.

• The balance of responses on the cost of new finance picked up to 10% following the historic lows seen last time (2%).
• Availability of finance was positive on all three indicators, with a balance of 11% reporting increased availability of new credit lines. This is the second quarter running this balance was positive.
• Dropping from last quarter’s highs of 52%, the proportion of companies citing no need to borrowing fell to 40% - the lowest in our survey.
• Small companies are also reporting improved access to finance, but they are also the group most likely to have seen costs increase.