{"id":562,"date":"2021-10-25T12:30:48","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T12:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.effi.com.au\/blogs\/?p=562"},"modified":"2021-10-25T12:30:48","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T12:30:48","slug":"business-credit-demand-recovers-as-lockdown-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.210.238.202\/blogs\/2021\/10\/25\/business-credit-demand-recovers-as-lockdown-ends\/","title":{"rendered":"Business credit demand recovers as lockdown ends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Global data analytics and technology company Equifax has released its <\/span>Quarterly Business Credit Demand index<\/span><\/a> for September 2021, showing a jump in demand across all categories of credit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first 4 days out of lockdown, asset finance enquiries rose 25.1%, trade credit by 15.5% and business loans by 2.5% compared to the previous week in lockdown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, the pandemic and prolonged lockdowns have put a dampener on the demand for business credit. Some businesses were forced to close or had people coming back to cancel or get refunds. It literally was like someone turned the cash flow tap off. So naturally, they were reluctant to take on debt given the uncertainty about the economic outlook. They had to rely on short-term initiatives to keep the wheels turning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As states have reopened, more and more businesses are now in need of access to working capital to recover or expand. Leases are opening up everywhere. Businesses are scrambling to get new equipment, upgrade their shops (which have been sitting there gathering dust for months) and hire skilled staff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that the lockdowns of this last quarter have hurt business credit demand, but the impact is less than we saw during last year\u2019s lockdown. It seems we\u2019re all getting better at coping with lockdowns, which might help to hasten our economic recovery once businesses fully reopen.\u201d Scott Mason, General Manager Commercial and Property Services, Equifax, said<\/span><\/p>\n

This is good news. We\u2019re expecting to see more businesses accessing loans to cover cash flow shortfalls until they have sufficient working capital to cover these independently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the head-turning data!<\/span><\/p>\n

Equifax Quarterly Business Credit Demand Index: Sept 2021<\/b><\/h2>\n