Banks tightening commercial, industrial loan standards

More than 46% of the respondents said they tightened commercial and industrial loan standards somewhat or considerably for loans to middle-market and large companies over the past three months, according to the Federal Reserve's April 2023 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices showed. None reported easing standards over the quarter and 54% kept them constant.

Greater than 48% tightened standards for small companies and 50% kept them the same. Only 1.7% eased them somewhat.

The net percentage tightening C&I loan standards (total percentage tightening less total percentage easing) to large and medium-sized firms was 46%, up from 44.8% in the previous quarter. It was -1.5% a year ago, meaning more banks were easing than tightening.

Most banks surveyed tightened lending standards across various commercial real estate loans. Two-thirds said they tightened somewhat or considerably for non-residential loans, while it was 67.7% for multifamily property loans. Nearly three-quarters, 73.8%, said they did so for construction and development loans.