Commercial bank loans drop just $60 million in October

The CVCA was working the halls of power in Ottawa yesterday on behalf of Canada’s Innovation Economy, and we had the pleasure of meeting Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and his Governing Council. Let me tell you, our nation’s monetary policy appears to be in excellent hands with this team.

Speaking of the Bank, they just released their monthly data regarding the quantum of outstanding Canadian commercial bank loans. The news was good. The total figure was remarkably stable between September and October, dropping merely $60 million for the month.

The category is “Business loans to Canadian residents for business purposes”, and the data is from the Bank of Canada:

December: $191.563 billion
January: $185.679 billion
February: $183.759 billion
March: $184.089 billion
April: $181.811 billion
May: $180.191 billion
June: $177.865 billion
July: $176.164 billion
August: $175.318 billion
September: $172.652 billion
October: $172.592 billion

Commercial and corporate lending by chartered banks to Canadian-based businesses is down $18.971 billion year-to-date, or about 10% of what was outstanding as of December 2008. Curiously, this month’s report carries revised monthly figures going back to 2007. What’s there to revise?

All-in-all, this should represent another good sign about the state of the economy.

MRM