Despite all the government's efforts to thaw frozen credit and the billions of dollars in liquidity pumped into the system, banks are still reluctant to lend. The Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book lender survey found that credit remains limited for households and businesses.  President Barack Obama assembled executives from the nation's twelve largest banks for a face-to-face at the White House early this week. The primary objective was to encourage these lenders to loosen their grip on credit for consumers and small businesses.  The president called the meeting "productive" when he spoke to reporters immediately following the hour-long sit-down with the chiefs of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, among others.

 

     The government doesn't want banks making the type of risky loans that "got us into this situation in the first place," Obama told the media, "but given the difficulty...people are having as lending has declined and given the exceptional assistance banks received to get them through a difficult time, we expect them to explore every responsible way to help get our economy moving again."

 

Source: DSNEWS