Lending levels to Irish firms down 4%

COMBINED lending levels to Irish businesses fell by nearly 4% year-on-year, in the first quarter, to €100.3 billion, according to figures from the Central Bank.

This figure — which excludes firms in the financial sector — was €4.5bn less than the corresponding period in 2010, with nearly half of the total decline accounted for by the construction sector. Lending to that industry alone was as much as 46.3% down on the same quarter last year.

The latest quarterly private sector credit statistics also show that when financial services and property-related firms are stripped out, lending to companies was down by 3.8% year-on-year, over the first quarter of 2011, at €41.7bn.