The global finance market meltdown has caused banks big and small to tighten their credit standards, making it tough for the club industry to obtain loans for just about anything. So, is it really business as usual?
I was recently in a meeting where a bank representative made a rather questionable comment despite the jittery world financial markets we’re currently faced with: “It’s business as usual.” Whilst this might be a well-rehearsed marketing response for banks, it’s certainly a far cry from reality – after all, the market meltdown
is causing banks big and small to tighten their credit standards, making it tougher to get loans for just about anything. So, are we to believe that global finance problems have not changed the lending policies of any of our local banks?
One thing’s for sure – the unwinding of a credit boom (such as what we’ve had in the last almost decade) can
exacerbate an economic downturn if financial intermediaries become less willing to lend, thereby imposing further financial constraints on business, which leads me back to the question, “Is it really business as usual?”