ISME HOPES BANK MOVES WILL IMPROVE CREDIT FLOW - ISME, which represents small businesses, says companies are suffering because of deliberately delayed payments from State agencies and larger firms.
ISME's Mark Fielding said demand for credit from banks had fallen, but the success rate for loans has increased. He said this showed that businesses were not investing because of economic uncertainty.
Mr Fielding said small firms would welcome the latest moves by the Government on the banks if they delivered more credit to small businesses.
But he described a prompt payments bill introduced in 2002 as a sham, saying small businesses were not being paid on time by larger companies.
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