24 October 2012 7:01am

More indicators of the downbeat outlook for the banking sector emerged yesterday, with pointers to rising business loan defaults and to a softening in demand for consumer credit.

The quarterly "index" produced by National Credit Insurance (Brokers) shows there was a 24 per cent increase in the number of claims placed and a 41 per cent increase in the value of claims in the September 2012 quarter over the June 2012 quarter.


The...