Business shied from credit in late 2012 Demand for business credit slowed in the final months of last year, due to greater uncertainty in the broader commercial world. Credit data provider Veda found credit demand increased 3.8 per cent in the December quarter, from a year earlier, and slowed from 6.2 per cent in the September quarter. Veda's general manager of commercial credit risk, Moses Samaha, said businesses had faced uncertainty created by falling commodity prices and a strong Australian dollar. "Weak conditions in sectors such as construction, manufacturing and retail have added to this concern," he said in a statement on Wednesday. This is being reflected in a more cautious outlook for business confidence in 2013. The central bank cut interest rates in the December quarter. But Veda's data suggests the benefits of the reduction are still to pass through the economy, with credit demand slowing across both the mining and non-mining states. Mr Samaha said the mining states combined had business credit growth of only 4.3 per cent over the year. This was just above the 3.5 per cent growth in the non-mining states. As well, both results were down significantly from growth seen in the September quarter. "This is a dramatic shift in the divide that we are used to seeing between these two sectors," Mr Samaha said.