The Committee of Public Accounts has said that both banks will fail to meet their legally-binding commitments to lend a total of £39bn (RBS: £25bn; Lloyds: £14bn) by the end of this month, a commitment they made in return for substantial public support two years ago. The public's stake in RBS is an astonishing 84%, and yet there seems little that can be done to force the banks to lend. Indeed, if - as Lloyds claim - demand has been limited, it could be argued that the targets were set too high. The figures, incidentally, are for a mixture of business and mortgage lending. More here.

Technorati Tags: mortgages