Savings and loans could not grow fast enough to make the required loans.

Although little information is available on how much of this debt has variable rates, economists say that such loans are growing significantly.

There are several reasons the loans have grown less common in recent years.

And those loans have grown significantly in the last couple of years.

Compared with the second quarter, the loans grew at a 13 percent annual rate.

Those loans grew by 1.2 percent for the quarter, to $9 billion.

But if you can't pay off the loan quickly, that relatively small loan can grow into a large amount of debt.

Businesses often need loans to fund operations, move into new markets, innovate and grow in general.

At the same time, it said, loans grew to $27.4 billion from $24.4 billion.

In fact, the loans have grown so popular that they run the risk of outstripping federal limits.