Business confidence to lift borrowing, says ANZ ANZ Bank says higher business confidence is finally prompting firms to increase their borrowing, a trend it expects to strengthen in 2014. The bank's head of corporate and commercial banking, Mark Whelan, said on Thursday that demand for credit had increased among small and large business customers alike, as companies became more upbeat about their prospects. The improvement was being driven by stronger business conditions across key sectors of the economy, he said, as low interest rates and the weaker currency prompted consumers to lift their domestic spending. ""We are seeing very good improvement in sales growth across pretty much the whole economy,"" he said in Sydney. ""The low interest rate environment is really creating that sense of confidence."" New data collected from the bank's network of debt and credit card terminals also pointed to better sales growth, which it said rose 4 per cent in the December quarter. Previously, bank executives have said that lending to business had not yet improved, despite the increasing optimism. Despite the positive signs, however, the bank has still not seen a recovery the mid market - companies with annual turnover between $35 million and $10 million. The upbeat comments come after a series of recent signs of improvements in the conditions facing businesses - which economists say could lead to a recovery in employment growth. Earlier this week, NAB's business conditions survey posted its best reading in more than two and half years, while confidence was near its long-term average. Business credit growth also accelerated to an annualised pace of 5.3 per cent in November, official figures show. The major banks are competing fiercely to sign up more corporate and small business customers - which they expect to increase borrowing this year after home loans drove much of the growth last year. Mr Whelan said more capital was starting to flow into business lending, with foreign banks competing more fiercely.