President Barack Obama urged US banks on Saturday to unfreeze credit for small businesses, calling them “the engine” of the country’s economy. “Small businesses have always been the engine of our economy creating 65 per cent of all new jobs over the past decade and a half and they must be at the forefront of our recovery,” Obama said in his weekly radio address.

He added that it was time for large American banks that received government assistance at the height of the current economic crisis “to stand by creditworthy small businesses, and make the loans they need to open their doors, grow their operations, and create new jobs.”