Find out more about Phase Two of banks’ COVID-19 support
24 July 2020
New figures reveal early signs of economic confidence beginning to grow in Australia with lending to small, medium and family businesses increasing by more than $2.2 billion last month.
The new figures support Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s observation today that there is early evidence of increased economic investment in Australia.
Continued lending to small business between May and June is a further demonstration of the key role Australia’s banks are playing in the recovery of the national economy by helping small and medium businesses get back on their feet.
In total, banks have provided more than $258 billion in small business loans, helping to ensure the flow of new credit into the economy at a time it needs it most.
“These figures show there are some green shoots emerging in our economy and that’s a positive sign.”
ABA CEO Anna Bligh
In a further sign that small, medium and family businesses are beginning to feel more confident about their financial future, they are starting to make their loan repayments again, with the value of SME loan repayments on deferral dropping by more than $686 million in June.
ABA Chief Executive Anna Bligh said the new figures showed small businesses were growing in confidence about Australia’s economic future.
“These figures show there are some green shoots emerging in our economy and that’s a positive sign. There’s a very long road, and plenty of hurdles to clear, but it’s encouraging to see small, medium family businesses slowly regaining some confidence,’’ she said.
Ms Bligh said Australia’s banks continue to work in partnership with the Government and regulators to provide business, and all customers, the confidence they need to see us through these challenging times.
“Banks are already showing they are prepared to lend to small and medium enterprises so they can get back on their feet. Our banks understand the key role they play in re-opening our economy.”
ENDS
Latest news
Transcript
Anna Bligh interview on The Project about scams
Read more
26 July 2024
Georgie Tunny: Anna Bligh is CEO of the Australian Banking Association. And we’ve heard so many examples of scammers infiltrating customers existing phone message threads from banks. If people can’t trust the bank’s own correspondence, what hope do they have? Anna Bligh: The stories that you’ve run this week have been absolutely heartbreaking. And I hear… Read more »
Media Releases
ABA backs national awareness campaign on elder abuse
Read more
22 July 2024
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) welcomes the Federal Government’s upcoming campaign to further educate the community about elder abuse. ABA CEO Anna Bligh said this was a timely opportunity to further raise awareness and shine the spotlight on financial elder abuse. “Australian banks are deeply conscious of financial elder abuse. They see it playing out every day and have… Read more »
Current Technical Outage
Read more
19 July 2024
Major disruptions to payments systems as a result of the CrowdStrike outage have not occurred and are not anticipated. Impacts on banks and payments systems have been relatively minor, with any disruptions having already been remedied or in the process of being gradually restored. Banks will continue to monitor for any further impacts to services…. Read more »