Anecdotal evidence points to credit improvements for SMBs

4/28/2011

According to Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke, anecdotal evidence is indicating that credit conditions for small business owners are slowly beginning to improve, iMarketNews reports.

Duke bases this assertion on solid corporate bond issuance and commercial mortgage-backed securities, as well as rising student and commercial loans, which have all exhibited signs of slow improvement.

While obtaining the necessary credit to operate and expand is still a chief concern among many small business owners, Duke told the International Factoring Association that conditions are making improvements and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

"The turndown rate [for credit] was fairly modest - about 12 percent," Duke said, referring to the Survey of Consumer Finances. "Moreover, for those small business owners who received credit, more than 90 percent of those surveyed actually received as much credit as they had requested."

Meanwhile, small business owners show other signs of optimism regarding their companies' prospects. According to a new report from the National Federation of Independent Businesses, companies are considering hiring more employees to deal with increased business demands.