A change in accounting rules forced some banks to bring back loans that had been off their balance sheets. This caused loans appear to increase $294 billion during the 1st quarter of 2010. Without this accounting change, total bank loans would have dropped. Stone & Youngberg, LLC is the source of this information. http://www.syllc.com/

This lack of bank loans will keep the lid on economic growth. Both borrowers and lenders need the confidence to expand their activities in order for GDP to increase. Nonetheless, other indicators point to a sustained, if slow, economic expansion.