€150m small business lending welcomed

Business bodies have welcomed legislation enabling the provision of an initial €150m of lending to small businesses.

Under the legislation, published yesterday, the exchequer is expected to see a return of over €25m.

Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton unveiled the credit guarantee bill. Once it is enacted, the credit guarantee scheme is expected to provide finance to small businesses which do not have collateral or an established track record to access funds through traditional banking.