The economic affairs minister and top business leaders have joined MPs in sharply criticising banks for their reluctance to give loans to businesses despite receiving government help to do precisely that.

Speaking at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, economic affairs minister Maria van der Hoeven said that ‘everyone is terribly irritated’ with the ‘disappointing’ stance of the banks which have been offered government aid to kick-start credit flows.
In October the government made €20bn available in rescue packages to the banks. It has also set up a €200bn credit guarantee scheme to stimulate inter-bank loans.
The government gave aid to the banks to ‘enable them to carry out their financial function, not to put their balance sheet in order… It’s unacceptable that healthy companies cannot get loans because the banks are busy with other things at the moment,’ Van der Hoeven told the NRC.
Van der Hoeven suggested that the government may take another look at the situation if the banks are not prepared to make loans. ‘Now the banks are saying that it’s not their fault [that businesses are not getting credit] and that they can’t do anything about it. So I ask myself: whose fault is it then?,’ she said.
Business leaders
Meanwhile, a number of senior executives add their voice to the growing criticism of the banks in today’s Financieele Dagblad. They warn that both the economy and businesses will suffer unless the credit system is quickly restored.
Ad Scheepbouwer from telecom firm KPN and Jan Aalberts of Aalberts Industries say the banks have a duty to offer firms credit because of the government aid they have received.
‘Banks can’t hold out their hand to the state and then do nothing. At a certain moment the government must say, ok that’s it,’ Scheepbouwer is quoted as saying in the FD.
And Wim van der Leegte of the VDL Groep warns that 2008 and 2009 could be ‘disaster years’ for industry unless action is taken, reports the FD.
But Bert Heemskerk of the Rababobank (one of the few financial institutions that has not asked for government help) tells the paper that banks are being confronted with higher capital requirements by the banking watchdog and that this makes it difficult for them to offer credit.
And Floris Dekkers of the private Van Lanschot bank says it is normal that credit lines are closed during a recession.
Last week the banks also came under fire from MPs. They too feel the banks are not fulfilling their role as lenders and fear this could turn the credit crisis into a fully-fledged economic crisis with all the social problems involved, says the Volkskrant.