Britain’s biggest retail bank Lloyds said yesterday it was on course to beat its own target of lending £1 billion to UK manufacturers before September.

Lloyds, which is 39 per cent owned by the British Government, said it had lent £700 million to manufacturers in the past six months, following the launch of its ‘Manufacturing Commitment’ last September.

“We have already seen a great appetite from manufacturing businesses that want to invest and expand even in these uncertain times,” David Oldfield, head of SME and mid-market banking at Lloyds, said in a statement.

Lloyds is using the Bank of England’s flagship Funding for Lending scheme to offer firms a one per cent reduction in the interest rate for new business loans. The offer applies for the full term of the loan and to all businesses of all sizes.

The scheme was lau­nched by the Central Bank and finance ministry last June to aid growth by offering banks cheap funds if they step­ped up lending to home-buyers and small and medium-sized businesses. (Reuters)

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