6 charts show why the current ‘credit crunch’ is starting to rival those seen during the worst economic downturns in recent decades

• A credit crunch is underway, market experts are warning. 
• Banks are pulling back on lending as they try to survive heightened deposit flight.
• Some indicators show the current lending pullback compares to those in 1991, 2001, 2008, and 2020.

Signs continue to build that a credit crunch, or a significant pullback in lending from banks, is underway.

For example, here’s what the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Survey of Consumer Expectations found in March: “Perceptions of credit access compared to a year ago deteriorated in March, with the share of households reporting it is harder to obtain credit than one year ago rising and reaching a series high. Respondents were more pessimistic about future credit availability as well, with the share of households expecting it will be harder to obtain credit a year from now also rising.”