Feb 24 (Reuters) - U.S. companies borrowed 6% more in
January to finance equipment investments from a year earlier,
industry body Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA)
said on Friday.
"Business demand for equipment financing continues unabated
despite uncertain and conflicting economic signals —
inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, a hot labor
market and easing supply chain disruptions," said ELFA Chief
Executive Ralph Petta.
Companies had signed up for new loans, leases and lines of
credit worth $8.8 billion last month, compared with $8.3 billion
a year earlier.
New business volume, however, was down 32% month-on-month
after the typical end-of-quarter, end-of-year spike in new
business activity.
ELFA, which reports economic activity for the $1 trillion
equipment finance sector, said credit approvals were 75.1%, down
from 76.6% in December.
Washington-based ELFA's leasing and finance index measures
the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United
States.
The index is based on a survey of 25 members, including Bank
of America Corp and financing affiliates or units of
Caterpillar Inc , Dell Technologies Inc , Siemens
AG , Canon Inc and Volvo AB .
The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, ELFA's
non-profit affiliate, said its confidence index in February
stood at 51.8, an increase from 48.5 in January. A reading above
50 indicates a positive business outlook.
(Reporting by Pratyush Thakur in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
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