Overall debt levels for SMEs have fallen but small hotels and restaurants remain the most vulnerable, according to a new Central Bank study.

An association of financial brokers has criticised the Central Bank’s lending restrictions, describing the measures as “excessive” policies that are creating “a lost generation robbed of the opportunity to buy their own homes”.

Household debt fell by €2.4bn over the final three months of last year to reach €166.2bn, which means every person in the country owes €36,203, according to the Central Bank’s latest quarterly accounts.