Govt launches £20bn small business lending scheme

Available to businesses with an annual group turnover of up to £50m, the National Loan Guarantee Scheme will give a discount of one percentage point on loans compared to the interest rate they would have otherwise received from a bank outside the scheme. Banks already committed to the plan include Barclays, Santander, Lloyds and RBS. It is being backed by £20bn of government guarantees on unsecured borrowing by the banks, with around £5bn in guarantees being made available in the first tranche. However, the government is not guaranteeing individual loans to businesses and, with ban...