2022 U.S. Loan Market Survey

Lenders Anticipate a Post-COVID Economy and Shift Their Focus to New Concerns

2022’s challenges represent a shift from 2021. This year, lenders see relatively benign credit market conditions ahead despite economic concerns over inflation, interest rates, supply chain bottlenecks and mounting geopolitical tensions in Ukraine. Risks have been tempered by massive relief programs and aggressive policy responses enacted to counter the impact of COVID-19. Yet, those policy actions have their own unintended consequences. Accelerating inflation and strong consumer demand are already impacting the economy. However, our survey respondents don’t expect these forces to derail buoyant credit markets or the recovery in 2022. This represents a shift as COVID-19’s future impacts have fallen far down on our respondents’ list of concerns. Instead, the focus appears to be if, and when, the U.S. market is no longer propped up by extraordinary federal support measures, will it be dragged down by inflation and supply chain’s cold grasp?

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