31% of firms with fewer than 10 staff can’t get credit

ONE in three businesses with fewer than 10 workers cannot get bank loans to finance their enterprises, a report compiled for Finance Minister Brian Lenihan reveals.

The second Report of the Independent Review of Credit Availability published yesterday shows that lending to the SME sector, excluding speculative construction and real estate sectors, declined by 2.6% over the period.

The report compiled by Mazars, shows the value of new applications for credit had fallen by 27% and SMEs drew down €2.7 billion from the banks in the seven months from March to September 2009.