Half of €50bn SME loans ‘in distress’

Central Bank director Fiona Muldoon has warned that half of the €50bn loans to SMEs are in some form of distress.

The Central Bank has given Irish banks until the end of June to put in place potential solutions for these SMEs to deal with their non-performing loans.

Ms Muldoon said that it is not clear yet whether the banks have enough capital to cover the losses across their mortgage arrears and SME loanbooks. Stress tests will be conducted this year on the banks to gauge the overall level of losses.