Business life: My finance news blog

Growth in lending to Australian consumers and businesses by banks and other financial institutions slowed in February after the central bank raised borrowing costs to cool the fastest inflation in 16 years.

Total credit climbed 0.7 percent from January, when it gained a revised 1 percent, and advanced 15.5 percent from a year earlier, the Reserve Bank of Australia said in a report released in Sydney today. The median estimate of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1.1 percent gain.

Credit growth may slow further in coming months after Governor Glenn Stevens increased the benchmark rate to 7.25 percent on March 4, the highest in almost 12 years and the fourth increase since August. The bank's policy makers will probably leave borrowing costs unchanged tomorrow to gauge fallout from the global credit squeeze, according to all 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News late last week payday loans in one hour credit reports.

Lending to businesses rose 0.5 percent in February and 22.3 percent from a year earlier, the slowest annual pace in four months, today's report showed.

Loans to consumers to buy houses in February advanced 0.9 percent for an annual increase of 11.4 percent. Credit provided to consumers for purchases other than housing fell 0.1 percent from a month earlier and gained 10.8 percent on the year.

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