Isme: Access to credit is abysmal

A survey by the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises (Isme) has found that credit conditions for its members are deteriorating.

Its latest quarterly survey found that 57% of companies that applied for funding in the last three months had been refused credit by their banks, compared with a 44% rejection rate in the last quarterly survey.

Isme chief executive Mark Fielding said: “Recent figures demonstrate that both rescued banks are going well beyond the Prudential Liquidity Assessment Review element of their programme, aimed at reducing the quantity of loans on their balance sheets. However, they are doing this by curtailing SME lending. Minister for Finance Michael Noonan must demand to see the books on this element alone, as it will give the answers to questions being asked by Isme since the start of the bank bailout.”