Print businesses could be facing years of expensive credit as a result of the new capital rules being imposed on the nation's banks in the wake of the global financial crisis.

　　Financial institutions warned this week that the new Basel III banking rules could spell the end of the "cheap money era" that characterised the build-up to the Credit Crunch.

　　The warning came after regulators imposed new rules that more than triple the amount of capital that banks are required to hold as protection against potential losses.

　　The increase, from 2% to 7%, prompted the British Bankers Association (BBA) to claim that the likely impact of the regulations was that the cost of borrowing would go up.

　　Angela Knight, chief executive of the BBA, said: "The liquidity requirements are significant, as these feed through to the price and the availability of lending.

　　"A bank is like any other business - if its fixed operating costs go up then so does the price of its product. The consequence is that inevitably the cost of credit - the price the borrower pays for money - will rise. The cheap money era is over."

　　However, business secretary Vince Cable hit back, stating that the major UK banks already exceed the capital requirements imposed under Basel III and warning them not to use it as an excuse not to lend.

　　"Our big banks are already well capitalised, so the new rules should not be used by banks as an excuse to restrict credit," he said.

　　"Small and medium-sized enterprises are fundamental to the recovery and to tackling unemployment. Without access to credit on reasonable terms, their contribution to the recovery risks being choked off."

[时间：2010-09-16  来源：必胜网]