The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) triggered unprecedented borrowing volumes among UK businesses in mid-2020. Although government-backed guarantees are in place; where BBLS loans go bad, lenders face reputational, administration and refinancing costs.
In this paper, we analyse early indicators to explore:
- the macroeconomic environment and the impact this is having on UK SMEs
- how well UK SMEs are paying back
- their evolving risk scores and variations by sector