SMEs repay £5.3bn in first half of 2023

Analysis of the Bank of England’s data on SME lending shows that through the first half of 2023 SMEs saw net lending decrease by £5.3 billion.

The research by Ebury has highlighted the urgency with which businesses are now making debt repayments in the aftermath of the various Covid-19 loan schemes and the rising cost of servicing that debt.

Through 2020, SMEs saw net borrowing spike to £43.9 billion – including £28.1 billion borrowed in the two months of May and June alone – to survive the pandemic amid unprecedented restrictions and economic shutdown. However, in 2021, SMEs made total repayments of £7.5 billion followed by a further £8.5 billion in 2022. The pace of repayments accelerated through the first half of 2023 reaching £5.3 billion as the cost of borrowing becomes increasingly problematic for businesses.

It means since 2021, SMEs have repaid a total of £21.4 billion – 49% of the borrowing taken on in 2020.

Phil Monkhouse, Head of Sales at Ebury, said “The pandemic drove SMEs to take on an unprecedented level of borrowing in a bid to survive the economic shutdowns imposed to tackle the spread of Covid-19.”

“Three and half years on from the outbreak of the pandemic, we are still seeing the ramifications of the financial decisions businesses had to take to keep the shutters open. SMEs are continuing to eat into the mountain of debt, yet the changing macro-economic environment has injected a fresh sense of urgency.”