Posted: Posted July 13, 2021 / 07:03 AM CDT / Has been updated: July 13, 2021 / 07:03 AM CDT

London (AP) — The Bank of England on Tuesday lifted the bank’s restrictions on paying dividends to shareholders, which was first introduced as part of a series of steps to support the UK economy at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Banks’ Monetary Policy Committee, which monitors risks to financial stability, said restrictions were “no longer needed”, but lenders continued to support the economy, especially as the government terminated its salary support system in September. Emphasized that it is necessary to provide and emergency business loans begin to have to be repaid.

Banks stopped paying dividends in this sector in March of last year when the pandemic broke out, but said in December that banks could pay limited dividends.

The Commission said in a quarterly financial stability report that the economic outlook improved as a result of the rapid deployment of vaccines in the UK, which could adversely affect SMEs with rising debt levels. During a pandemic that warned that some risk remained.

The report showed a 25% increase from the end of 2019 as SMEs used emergency loans provided by the UK government to mitigate the pandemic blow.

The Commission warned that in the hospitality and other hit sectors, 11.8% of SMEs are already delinquent in loan repayments or have officially defaulted as of January.