MFI lends just €1.26m but costs €1.1m

The cost of running the Government’s micro finance business funding initiative is almost equal to the amount of money that was actually lent to businesses, according to figures in a parliamentary question.

The set-up and running costs at the Micro Finance Ireland (MFI) came in at more than €1.1m with more than €500,000 of that spent on wages.

Despite the costs in its first year of operation, MFI only lent €1.26m to 79 businesses. MFI received a total of 224 applications, but only 45% were approved.