NBP survey shows business loans on the decrease

According to studies conducted by the National Bank of Poland (NBP), 68.15% of all company investments planned are covered by their own capital and in the second quarter of 2002, 70.9% of investments were financed from these sources. The tendency of financing these costs using loans obtained from banks is on the decrease. In the second quarter of this year, entrepreneurs claimed to have used bank loans in financing only 20.2% of their investments, while in the fourth quarter of 2001 the figure stood at 22.3%. On average, 12.9% of investment outlays are covered through loans denominated in zlotys, with 8.1% in foreign currencies. Bank loans do not seem a popular method of financing, even though, according to the NBP, 67.6% - 73.3% of the enterprises surveyed have a positive credit rating. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) A.K.