Over €500million in new credit to be made available to Irish SMEs through Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland

Over €500million in additional credit will be made available to Irish SMEs through the establishment of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), the Government announced today.

The SBCI is a new company and it is intended that it will be initially financed by the German Promotional Bank KfW, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the directed portfolio of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). The involvement of  KfW follows directly from discussion between the Taoiseach and Chancellor Merkel following Ireland’s successful exit from the EU/IMF Programme on finding ways to reinforce Ireland’s economic recovery.

Speaking at the announcement of the new funding for SMEs Minister Noonan stated: “The establishment of the SBCI will provide over €500m of additional credit for SME’s and will be a great addition to the SME credit landscape in Ireland.  Credit is the lifeblood of all businesses and SMEs will now be able to access loans of greater duration, with enhanced terms and potentially at a lower cost facilitated by the SBCI and its on-lending partners. This will promote greater competition in the SME lending sector, will drive economic growth and job creation in this key sector of our economy. The Government will be prioritising the passage of the required legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas and I expect the SBCI to be facilitating lending before the end of the year”.