Aussie business loans growth hits 6-year high

Sydney

AUSTRALIAN lending to business growing at the fastest pace in almost six years may herald the stirring of "animal spirits" that central bank governor Glenn Stevens has been seeking.

Loans to companies increased 4.6 per cent in November from a year earlier, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced on New Year's Eve. That was the most since March 2009, when the rate was boosted by comparison with a darkening world economy as the global financial crisis loomed.