Commercial lending suffers

Low consumer and business sentiment and a weakening economy were reflected in a downturn in finance activity in August.

According to the ABS, commercial finance sank by 7.9 per cent in August compared with last month, seasonally adjusted, to $29.571 billion – a significant 35 per cent slide compared to August 2007. 

Personal finance activity also continued to decline in August, falling by 5.2 per cent to $6.240 billion on the previous month.

However the August figure was only 4.4 per cent down from the previous year.