Roughly 60 percent of the firms responding to a recent Finance Ministry survey believe that lending by the nation's top 19 banks became more stringent toward the end of March, the ministry said March 31.
While 50 percent of the firms perceived little change in the lending attitudes of banks toward the close of fiscal 1997, which ended March 31, about 40 percent believe that financial institutions in general are adopting tighter lending policies.
The mid-March survey of 556 financial institutions and 1,002 corporations, geared at appraising fears that a credit crunch is brewing, showed that small and medium-size business are finding it particularly difficult to secure funds.
One-third of the firms said their operations are being affected due to increased difficulty in securing funds, and that figure rose to about 50 percent for smaller enterprises.
Ninety percent of the companies, however, said that borrowing from other financial firms and government-affiliated lenders has made it possible for them to remain in business.
More major banks expect growth in outstanding loans as of March 31 to be smaller, rather than greater, than that for the same period last year.