Barclays has offloaded troubled loans and securities worth £6.3bn ($12.2bn) during the past few months in a further sign that investors have become more willing to buy debt assets affected by the credit crunch.

Barclays executives said yesterday that most of the sales, which included mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, had been agreed in May and June. Deals were at prices consistent with valuations on Barclays' balance sheet and did not require the bank to provide financing.