Geithner asks banks to loan more

“Banks bear some responsibility for the extent of the damage caused by the crisis,’’ Geithner said yesterday at a conference in Washington. “You carry a substantial obligation to help our communities get back on their feet.’’

Yet Bank of America Corp.’s total loan originations in September fell 6 percent to $53.6 billon from a month earlier, and Wells Fargo & Co.’s new lending dropped 14 percent, to $47.4 billion, a Treasury Department report showed. The monthly surveys show lending patterns by the biggest banks receiving government funds from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

As the Obama administration moves from “rescue’’ policies to what Geithner called the “repairing and rebuilding’’ phase, joblessness last month reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent. The Treasury chief said the administration is committed to doing more to help small businesses get the credit needed to “grow and hire new workers.’’

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced plans Tuesday to join Warren Buffett to provide assistance to 10,000 small businesses. The $500 million charitable effort aims to provide help ranging from counseling to obtaining funding.

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is the largest shareholder in Goldman Sachs, which is based in New York.

“Without increased access to credit for American families and small businesses, growth will be weaker, companies will defer long-term investments, and we will not be able to create a recovery that is self-sustaining and led by private demand,’’ Geithner said.

Total loan originations from the largest TARP aid recipients increased 2 percent in September from a month earlier as lending by Citigroup Inc. grew 4 percent to $15.3 billion and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s rose 16 percent to $50.6 billion, the report showed.