Vince Cable In Bank Of England 'Taliban' Jibe

The Business Secretary has stoked up tension with the Bank of England by comparing its policymakers to the Taliban over restrictions imposed on banks.

Vince Cable believes that the BoE's demands that banks must boost the levels of capital they hold to protect against future financial shocks is deterring small business lending and holding back recovery.

Mr Cable told the Financial Times: "One of the anxieties in the business community is that the so-called 'capital Taliban' in the Bank of England are imposing restrictions which at this delicate stage of recovery actually make it more difficult for companies to operate and expand."

Mr Cable has expressed similar views before, but the strong language of his latest intervention comes less than a month into the tenure of new Bank governor Mark Carney.

It remains to be seen whether his remarks will persuade policymakers to soften their stance or simply harden their resolve.

Chancellor George Osborne was reported to share Mr Cable's views.

One Treasury official told the FT that it was hoped that Mr Carney would rein in the "jihadist" tendency in Threadneedle Street against the banks.

The BoE's new Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has ordered Britain's five biggest lenders to raise £13.4bn to plug a £27.1bn gap in their finances.

Nationwide, Britain's biggest building society, was reportedly left with a £1bn hole, with its chief executive Graham Beale describing the BoE's leverage ratio measurement as "crude".

Two weeks ago it announced that it had been able to meet the PRA's demand for it to strengthen its leverage ratio - a key measure of financial strength - to 3% from 2%, without raising extra funds from investors.

British Bankers' Association chief executive Anthony Browne believes Mr Cable was quoting other people in the Taliban reference, rather than trying to use the word himself.

Mr Browne said: "But there clearly is concern in various parts of the industry about the pace at which they're required to raise their capital ratios."

The Bank of England declined to comment directly on Mr Cable's comments.

It maintains that it does not want banks and building societies to address their capital shortfalls by reducing lending to the real economy and would not accept any such plans.

It is believed that Mr Carney will be meeting Mr Cable to discuss issues including the rules on capital strength.

Meanwhile, Britain's biggest banks have agreed to publish information about how much they are lending at a local level in an effort to identify parts of the nation where it is harder to borrow money.

Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) , Lloyds, Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) , HSBC (LSE: HSBA.L - news) and the Nationwide are among seven banks and building societies that will provide a breakdown of the lending they have done to households and businesses in 10,000 postcodes areas.