Ireland’s SMEs saw a rise in available credit in the second quarter of this year, but savers continue to struggle to make a return on their money due to low term deposit rates.

New figures from the Central Bank show that new lending to SMEs advanced by 32 per cent in the second quarter of 2015, driven by increased lending in the motor trade. However the scale of loan repayments continues to outpace new lending, which means that outstanding loans actually fell by 9.6 per cent in the year to June 2015.

New lending to non-financial, non-property related SMEs advanced by 31 per cent to €2.7 billion over the twelve month period to end June, while new lending to property-related SMEs reached €178m, the highest recorded since Q4 2011.

Interest charged on SME loans also fell by 25 basis points to 4.9 per cent.

For more on this article, please visit: The Irish Times

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