Lib Dems urge Lloyds to come clean on lending

A fresh storm has erupted over the refusal of Lloyds Banking Group to disclose how far it is falling short of government lending targets , with the Liberal Democrats preparing to launch a campaign this week to force the bailed-out bank to come clean. Loss-making Lloyds, which is 41%-owned by taxpayers, came under fire when it published its 2009 results last month , for refusing to disclose "net" lending figures that would show whether or not it had met the targets set by the government to keep £11bn of credit flowing during the recession. Business groups have complained that firms are still struggling to get finance, echoing official data showing lending by banks to companies fell last year for the first time since records began. Now the Liberal Democrats are stepping up their criticism of Lloyds, demanding more transparency. "Where are Lloyds's net lending figures?" asked the Liberal Democrat's Treasury spokesman, Lord Oakeshott. "It is now a year since targets were set. They have produced their results and had promised they would show how far they had fallen short and they haven't. "It's absolutely the public's right to know how far Lloyds have fallen behind their commitment." The government gave Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland net lending targets in return for taxpayer support for their bad loans. Net lending shows new loans granted but also takes account of loans that have been repaid. Lloyds says it has already given clear guidance on its lending to both businesses and homeowners, and that full figures will be disclosed "in due course". At the time of its results, it maintained it had achieved "strong levels of mortgage lending", with £35bn of gross new lending. Small business lending was £10bn while corporate customers were lent £25bn. However, the bank did not indicate how much had been repaid by companies and households, and thus no net figures were provided.