General Electric Co.'s finance unit is expanding lending to small and mid-size businesses as confidence in U.S. economic strength grows.

GE Capital said it increased proposals to U.S. commercial lending and leasing customers by 16 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew by 10 percent at companies to which GE Capital lends, Dan Henson, chief executive officer of GE Capital, Americas, said in a telephone interview.

Small and mid-size companies are becoming more optimistic about the outlook for their businesses, with 67 percent forecasting revenue growth this year and 74 percent expecting to hire additional workers, according to a GE Capital survey of 495 chief financial officers at companies with annual sales of $50 million to $1 billion. Ninety-four percent of the CFOs said the U.S. economy will grow or remain stable in 2012.