Under geared and underwhelmed by borrowing opportunities

According to two recent surveys, business demand for credit may be worse than lacklustre, representing a significant restraint on growth for banks in Australia.

Deloitte's latest chief financial officer survey for the December 2014 quarter found that CFO intentions to lift gearing were at their lowest in three years.

"Despite credit being cheaper than ever before, most CFOs do not intend to raise gearing," Deloitte said, adding that this was "despite the fact that the general opinion is that corporate Australia is under-geared, with a net 27 per cent of CFOs reflecting this view."

The Deloitte report pointed out that "credit is cheaper and more available than ever before, creating a positive environment to support growth
aspirations.

"However, a more concerning trend is the increase in the number of CFOs who expect to reduce gearing, a growing trend in the past three quarters."

National Australia Bank's report of its monthly business survey for December 2014 said, in an understated way, that "borrowing conditions remained unchanged" while "demand for credit was slightly lower."

In fact, the survey showed that more than 75 per cent of businesses said they required no borrowing, up from 50 per cent a month earlier.

NAB economists Alan Oster and James Glenn said the timing of any reduction on borrowing costs from the already historic low of 2.5 per cent would be "very data-dependent."