I created the above chart from the New York Fed Survey of Consumer Expectations for March. 

Credit Survey Key Points 

Credit access perceptions deteriorated in March. 

A record high 58.22 percent of consumers said that it was harder to obtain credit than a year ago.

In February, a record low 7.47 percent of consumers said that it was easier to obtain credit than a year ago. 

For March, 8.63 percent of consumers said that it was easier to obtain credit than a year ago. That's the third lowest total. The second lowest was 7.77 percent in December of 2022.

Largest Pullback on Record

What's Going On?

The inverted yield curve and QT act to restrict lending

Banks are fearful of a recession and credit losses

All the banks that leveraged into duration are suffering mark-to-market losses on their Treasury and MBS portfolios. The banks know this (and knew this even before Silicon Valley Bank was taken over).