UK business bank borrowing surges in January

UK businesses significantly increased their borrowing from banks in January driven by a surge of merger and acquisition activity, figures show. 

Borrowing by UK businesses increased by £9.2bn in January, with £5.3bn lent by banks, according to the Bank of England's monthly borrowing statistics. 

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The increase in bank lending was driven by large businesses, which increased by £4.3bn due to merger and acquisition activity, representing an annual growth rate of 6.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, lending to small and medium sized enterprises was up by £200m in January, a year-on-year increase of 0.5 per cent.

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Consumer lending also rose in January above the £900m monthly average seen since July last year.

The value of consumer lending hit £1.1bn, and within that credit card lending was up after a weak December and other loans and advances increased during the month.