Net lending by banks fell by £2.4bn in the fourth quarter of 2012 despite the implementation of the Funding for Lending scheme, according to results today.
The majority of the loans also went to homebuyers rather than the small and medium sized businesses which the scheme hoped to support.
The FLS scheme was set up last August by the Bank of England to encourage banks to lend to more individuals and businesses.
Some 39 banks, representing 80 per cent of the stock of lending to the real economy, were participating in the scheme. These firms had taken up £13.8bn since the scheme started, including £9.5bn during the fourth quarter of 2012.
The Bank said funding costs had "fallen significantly" since the scheme was set up but that this would take time to filter through to lending volumes.
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Paul Fisher, executive director for markets at the Bank of England, said: "The FLS has clearly shifted the supply of credit: loans are generally available at lower cost than previously. Even though lending rates have fallen, it is still quite early for much extra money to have flowed from the application stage into actual loans, compared with previous plans which showed that lending was most likely to fall in aggregate without the FLS.
"I would not expect to see a return to rising aggregate quantities until we start getting data for 2013 at the earliest. Nevertheless, it does seem that we have the beginnings of a revival in mortgage activity which is visible in the approvals data and that trend is widely supported by business contacts throughout the country."
The findings will be interesting for the Monetary Policy Committee which has said it is waiting for the scheme's results before making a decision about interest rates or quantitative easing.
Commenting on the results, Katja Hall, chief policy director at the Confederation of British Industry, said: "Despite the headline fall in lending, businesses tell us the scheme is having a positive impact on the cost of finance. So far the effect has been strongest in the housing market, but businesses are also benefitting.
"We must remember that the scheme is operating against the headwinds of bank deleveraging and muted confidence in the economy, which are reflected in the headline lending figures."

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