Finance heads lose appetite for debt after rates climb

Different focus: People walking past the Bank of England in London. The central bank’s officials expect the country’s economy to grow just 0.1% in the third quarter. — AP

LONDON: Finance executives at top United Kingdom firms are the most wary about borrowing than at any time since at least 2007, according to a survey that underscores how the climb in interest rates is weighing on businesses and the broader economy.

The survey by Deloitte, published yesterday, found the gap between chief financial officers (CFOs) who rated bank borrowing as attractive and those who saw it as unattractive stood at a net minus 37%, the widest since the survey was launched 16 years ago.