Participants also repaid £0.1bn from the first stage of the FLS, taking total outstanding drawings to £47.6bn.
The figures from the Bank of England and HM Treasury show bank funding costs have fallen significantly since the launch of the FLS which have brought improved corporate credit conditions.
For large companies, conditions have improved such that more respondents to the Deloitte CFO Survey reported that credit was cheap and available in 2014 Q3 than at any time in the previous seven years. However, small to medium-sized companies fell slightly in Q3 confirming lenders are still not targeting credit at smaller companies despite the government tasking lenders with doing so after it refocused the scheme’s usage.
But the improvement remains less marked for small companies, with the 2014 Q3 Credit Conditions Survey showing credit availability for smaller businesses falling slightly.
The FLS extension will continue to support lending to SMEs in 2014 Q4, although the scheme is due to finish at the end of January 2015.
