Banks cut back on overseas lendingBanks cut back on overseas lending

Banks cut back on overseas lending
 By Daniel Pimlott in London
 2009-04-30
Banks around the world cut international lending at the fastest rate since records began more than 30 years ago in the final quarter of last year, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements released yesterday.

The savage deterioration in overseas lending came as the US economy shrank at an annualised rate of 6.1 per cent according to other data released yesterday while the German government cut its forecast to predict a 6 per cent fall in GDP this year.

International lenders reduced their overseas loans by £1,790bn (