Majority of firms believe crunch will hit in 2009

THREE out of five companies said the credit crunch was having an impact on business, but 78% expect the real crunch will come next year.

The figures reflect the views of 4,000 companies represented in an all island survey, carried out by BT and InterTrade Ireland.

With the housing slump already pushing the economy into recession, the reality is that the credit crunch, triggered by bad mortgage lending in the US which made international headlines on 7 August 2007, is compounding the difficulties of the Irish economy.