The credit crunch in money markets is now triggering markedly dearer loan costs for new borrowers among both businesses and households, Bank of England figures have revealed.

In news that will add to fears that the squeeze from tightening credit conditions will sharply brake the economy, the figures show that average interest rates for the most common forms of commercial loans taken out by British companies have jumped by two full percentage points compared with last year.

Average interest rates charged on corporate loans fixed for up to a year, which account for more than three quarters of business borrowing, leapt by 0.4 points last month alone, and by a full percentage point in the past two months, according to analysis by Michael Saunders, of Citigroup.

Along with rates fixed for five years, the other most common form of corporate borrowing, these rates now average two points more than they did last year. Average rates on new five-year loans taken out by companies soared by 0.86 percentage points last month.

Citigroup’s study also found signs of tightening lending conditions for homebuyers.

The extra interest rate charged to borrowers wanting mortgages for a high proportion of a property’s value rose sharply during August, it found.

The gap between the average rate on a two-year fixed-rate mortgage for 95 per cent of a house’s value and a similar loan for only 75 per cent jumped to 0.45 percentage points in August, from only 0.29 points in the previous month.

Mr Saunders said that the data showed the “early signs of the pass-through from the financial market crisis to the real economy”.

“All this will exacerbate the slow-down in the economy, especially housing,” he said.

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