Banks on target for Project Merlin business lending

In February, the banks said they were aiming to lend £190bn of new credit to business in 2011, of which £76bn would go to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). According to the latest figures from the Bank of England, the five major banks, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander, made £53bn of gross lending facilities available in Q2, of which £20.5bn was for SMEs. This comes on top of £47.3bn in the first quarter, of which £16.8bn was for SMEs. Earlier this year, Vince Cable criticised the banks for falling short of the £19bn per quarter tar...