Lending under pressure: companies are worried about financial support!

Lending under pressure: companies are worried about financial support!

In December 2024, the WIFO economic climate index reached a value of -6.1 points, which corresponds to a decrease of 1.9 points compared to the previous month. This is reflected in the current assessment of the overall economic situation, which has improved slightly from a low level, while economic expectations have declined across all sectors. The decline is primarily due to a deterioration in the industrial economy. According to WIFO, this decline in the index signals a very skeptical outlook for future economic development, which is described as alarming. This information was provided by vienna.at published.

Lending under pressure

As part of the WIFO economic test, the banks' lending practices were also examined. The results show an improvement in assessments of banks' willingness to lend, with an increase of 1.6 points compared to the previous quarter, although the balance remains in negative territory at -17.7 points. In particular, smaller companies with fewer than 50 employees are confronted with a higher credit hurdle of -19.3 points, while large companies are better off with -9.7 points. Nevertheless, loan demand remains at a similar level at 21.4% compared to the long-term average of 20.9%. The study by WIFO shows that almost 33% of companies that needed credit had to compromise on the amount or conditions. This suggests that despite a slight improvement in lending, many businesses continue to struggle to obtain the finance they need.