Strong growth in commercial finance in January

Demand for business credit is picking up, with strong growth in new commercial lending in January and balances also growing well.

According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics lending data, new commercial finance commitments rose 13.7 per cent in January, compared with the previous month (in seasonally adjusted terms).

The January result was a strong pick-up from December, when new commercial finance commitments grew 0.4 per cent.

Lenders made commercial finance commitments of A$43.7 in January, which is the highest amount reported since July last year and 7.8 per cent higher than January last year.

According to the Reserve Bank, overall business credit balances grew by 0.8 per cent in January and by 5.5 per cent over the 12 months to January.

In January last year, the annual rate of growth in business credit was 1.9 per cent.