Canadian corporate bank loans hit three year low

According to data released by the Bank of Canada, commercial and corporate lending by Canadian Chartered banks has dropped to depths not seen since June 2007. The category is “Business loans to Canadian residents for business purposes”:

December 2008: $191.563 billion
January 2009: $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
November: $169.928 billion
December: $170.930 billion
January 2010: $169.423 billion
February: $169.604 billion
March: $170.959 billion
April: $170.663 billion
May: $167.878 billion
June: $166.869 billion

Commercial and corporate lending by chartered banks to Canadian-based businesses is down $25 billion since December 2008, but that’s old news if you are a regular blog visitor. Back in 2007, it took the chartered banks about nine months to add $25 billion of corporate loans to their balance sheets. Wonder how long it’ll take them to put that business back on the books this time.

Either the lenders aren’t lending, or the borrowers aren’t borrowing. Who’ll blink first do you think?

MRM