Canadian banks have a problem. They’re having a difficult time boosting loans at a time when prospective customers don’t seem as keen to load up on new debt.
Royal Bank chief executive officer Gordon Nixon said the banks must now find ways to build their lending operations – a key driver of their profits – without being coaxed into making unattractive loans just to get more business in the door.
“What you hope you don’t see happen is banks starting to do stupid things again,” Mr. Nixon said in an interview, referring to the past several years where credit was easy to come by, and banks around the world were all too eager to lend.
“Right now we’re in an environment where demand for credit is very, very low … It’s not that credit isn’t available – there’s not a lot of demand.”
Full article in the Globe and Mail, hat tip to RP1 for the link!
