Australia

The Reserve Bank of Australian raised the discount rate by 25bp to 6.50%, to contain inflationary pressures.

Business confidence has rebounded to its highest level in three and a half years at small, medium and large companies, according to

Saint George Bank has sold Scottish Pacific to BA Venture, a joint venture between Balmain Commercial and Allco Finance Group.

Alternative Construction Company complete US$4bn financing to go along side restructuring moves and supply chain efficiency gains, announced earlier in the year, to further reduce its capital costs.

Bibby Financial Services Australia has strengthened its product offerings to firms in the $1m+ turnover segment with the launch of its new confidential solution - Confidential Invoice Finance.

The prominence of the bank overdraft may be slipping as other lending options become available. Working capital products, such as invoice discounting and inventory financing are products that small businesses have really been screaming out for over the past few years.

Total personal finance commitments 1.0 per cent in March, seasonally adjusted, to AUD$6.690bn compared with a downwardly revised AUD$6.755bn in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

The Australian Government has agreed to grant the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) additional powers to help Australia's small to medium-sized exporters (SMEs) expand globally,

SMEs are urged to start planning and protect their cash flows in the wake of a slowdown in the economy. With sales figures not expected to improve in the near future many SMEs are in for tough times. And to make matters worse, SME tax debt has sky rocketed by $2 billion over the past three years, meaning more businesses are going to need to dip into their already low cash reserves

Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been warned to prepare for a business downturn as interest rates set to rise and the Australian dollar continues to strengthen. One form of finance that is growing in popularity among the SMEs is factoring and discounting.