Alistair Darling today unveiled a £7bn support package for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) hit by what he called "unprecedented" market conditions.
Firms with cash flow problems will be able to borrow anything between £1,000 and £1m as part of a small business finance scheme announced in the Pre-Budget Report (PBR). Darling says the cash can be borrowed on "more favourable" terms than SMEs would have found before. He adds the Government will be monitoring banks' commitment to lend to small businesses facing capital difficulties, and pointed to recent action taken by RBS as a benchmark for other banks to follow. Yesterday RBS guaranteed overdraft rates and contracts for its business customers for at least a year. In a bid to help ...
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