Year-on-year lending to SMEs down by €1.6bn in the first quarter

Lending to SMEs fell by nearly 6% — or €1.6bn — year-on-year, during the first quarter of this year, according to data published yesterday by the Central Bank.

The bank’s latest quarterly ‘Trends in Business Credit and Deposits’ survey also shows a 1.6% fall in the amount of credit issued to Irish SMEs, by the main banks, during the period, compared to the last quarter of 2012.

In all, lending to non-financial, non-property related SMEs fell by €417m during the first quarter of 2013, compared to the preceding three-month period. Year-on-year, the fall in lending was €1.6bn, bringing the outstanding amount of credit advanced to SMEs, in these sectors, to €25.7bn as of the end of March.