The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, June 24, edition that the outlook for Canada's Big Six banks is not bright. The Globe's David Berman writes that residential bank loans in Canada have climbed an average of 9 per cent a year since 2005, as borrowers have taken advantage of low interest rates and a hot housing market to load up on mortgages, personal loans and credit card debt. However, as economic forecasts darken, consumers are recognizing that they are tapped out. Annual growth in the banks' mortgage loan portfolios has slowed to about 5 per cent and home equity lines of credit have gone flat. Lending money to energy companies in Alberta was easy when crude oil was trading at its peak. Now with oil in the dumps, banks are booking provisions against bad oil and gas loans. Sure, energy loans are now just 2.2 per cent of the Big Six's total lending, but they add up to $50-billion, and some banks are more exposed than others. Banks still generate a lot of income by borrowing money at low rates and lending it out at higher rates. However, as the Bank of Canada has slashed its benchmark rate to near zero, that spread has narrowed. BOC Governor Stephen Poloz appears reluctant to raise them any time soon.