No disclosure on SME debt restructuring

The Central Bank says it will not disclose how much SME debt has been restructured by the pillar banks.

In reply to a letter by Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath, Cyril Roux, the deputy governor of the Central Band, said the focus was on securing long-term forbearance arrangements for customers in arrears. The two pillar banks are currently meeting their quarterly targets, he added.

“While the Central Bank’s focus on addressing the issue of SME debt is welcome, the process would be greatly enhanced if — as in the case of mortgagearrears cases — the SME debtrestructuring targets were published and the performance of the banks was subject to public scrutiny,” said Mr McGrath.