Barclays sees 1-2 years of tight credit
21-12-2008
Bank lending will take 1-2 years to return to normal, and asset prices need as much as 18 months to stabilise, Barclays Chief Executive John Varley said in an interview released on Saturday. Varley told BBC television that banks were still lending, but there needed to be a reduction in the overall amount of debt in the economy. "I think that we will see the process of reduced borrowing play out over at least the course of the next 12 months ... maybe 24 months," he said. "That is a painful process, it's a process through which the world absolutely has to go," he said. "As soon as asset prices stabilise, then we will see the financial economy recover."
