WASHINGTON (AFX) - Over half of U.S. banks tightened their lending standards in the Federal Reserve's May survey of senior loan officiers, said Roger Ferguson, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman.
"In our May survey, just over one-half of domestic banks reported tightening their standards on commercial and industrial loans to large and middle-market firms over the past three months," Ferguson said at a Congressional hearing.
Over one-third of banks also tightened their standards for small firms, he added.
"Most of the banks that had tightened continued to cite a more uncertain economic environment, a worsening of industry-specific problems, and a reduced tolerance for risk," Ferguson said.
The Fed will release the full results of the senior loan officer survey later this morning.