Monday, January 31, 2011

Let The Good Times Role!

As David Cameron sheds tears today for the average British householder, who will face a "difficult and tough" year ahead, it is reassuring to know that the banking sector is booming again.

The Telegraph reports that four HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and Standard Chartered will announce combined profits of £24.2BN (a rise of over 10% compared with the £21.5BN they reported last year).

To some extent these profits (and associated bonuses) will be recouped by taxes. However, the key to the banks' "reassimilation" into "polite" society will be whether they show that they are willing to lend more to businesses and homebuyers than they have been doing of late.

Seemingly, as discussions between George Osborne and the banks over lending levels (aka project "Merlin") have become deadlocked, it may be a while before banks (by their actions) are "reassimilated".

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