LONDON (MNI) – The Treasury led credit easing scheme is set to be
up and running before the March 21 Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer
George Osborne told parliament Tuesday.

The scheme, designed to boost credit supply to small-to-medium
sized enterprises, needs EU approval but Osborne said he expected this
within a week. SMEs have experienced persistent problems with credit
availability even though the Bank of England has undertaken extensive
quantitative easing.

The credit easing scheme was unveiled in the Autumn Budget
statement, but it has been a slow process getting it working.

“On credit easing, I can confirm that subject to final EU state
aid, which we expect to get in the next week, that we will have the
scheme up and running before the Budget,” Osborne said in parliamentary
Treasury questions.

— London newsroom: 4420 7862 7491 email: drobinson@marketnews.com

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