Irish firms drew down €172m in lower cost loans from the government’s SME financing fund in its first 10 months in operation.

Almost half of loan applications from small and medium-sized business were rejected in the past three months, according to new figures.

More than 1,600 small- and medium-sized businesses have drawn down a combined €45m from the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland in its first four months in operation.

More than 1,300 owners of small businesses have been allocated a combined €60m in funding from the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland approved by AIB since its launch in March.

Small and medium enterprises will next month have access to €400m worth of funding after the launch yesterday of the long-awaited Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI).

THERE was more good news on the jobs front yesterday in a loan package worth €400m for Ireland’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The Finance Minister Michael Noonan says the launch of a new €400m fund to provide low-cost credit to small businesses is a "red letter day" for the economy.

German banks have about €23.5bn in credit exposure to Greece, but the systemic risk is limited as the country’s biggest commercial banks, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, hold only a tiny fraction of that, according to figures gathered by Reuters.

Small and medium businesses can begin accessing a €800m loan scheme from next month, after a multi-funded strategic bank was launched by the Government.

For the first time in almost a decade there are signs that our banking system is getting back to normal, beginning to operate within proper parameters and finally lending to businesses, home buyers, and other credit worthy customers.

A substantial proportion of the €500m being made available by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland — the State’s new ‘SME Bank’ — needs to be put into the hands of alternative funding providers, rather than the domestic pillar banks for the project to work, it has been claimed.

Business could benefit from a new strategic bank but there are a lot of other factors in play here, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Up to €4bn in lending will be made available to small and medium businesses who will be given repayment holidays and up to 10 years to pay back loans.

Ireland is setting up a new state bank to pump hundreds of millions of euro into struggling small businesses.

Representatives from the German development bank KFW have met with Department of Finance officials to explore ways of how it will provide half-price loans to Irish SMEs, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has revealed.

The state-owned German development bank KfW is to contribute funding to the planned Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, part of the remit of which will be to improve funding availability to domestic SMEs.

The KfW is a German government-owned development bank led by a managing board which reports to a supervisory board chaired by Wolfgang Schäuble, the finance minister. KfW covers over 90% of its borrowing needs in the capital markets, mainly through bonds that are guaranteed by the federal government.

Ireland’s clean exit from the bailout was hailed in the EU as a great success, but the troika will continue to monitor the country’s economy and the ongoing reforms.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny warned the Dáil that while Ireland was opting for a clean break from the EU/IMF bailout without a credit safety net there were still demanding times ahead for the country.

THE vaunted declaration by Taoiseach Enda Kenny that Ireland will exit the bailout without a precautionary credit line, though welcome, is an exaggerated half-truth aimed at building market confidence ahead of the Dec 15 deadline.

Ireland is to make a clean break from its three-year international bailout programme next month without seeking precautionary funding, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has confirmed.

The leaders of France and Germany will seek a common position at a series of meetings this week on a €34.5bn defence merger that could involve them having to give up strategic influence in aerospace group EADS.

WORLD carbon credit deals are estimated to have totalled €9.4 billion last year, up sharply from €377 million in 2004.

MINING and minerals exploration company Kenmare Resources said yesterday that construction of its Moma titanium mine project in Mozambique is running ahead of schedule.

A Bundesbank spokesman has said that bank president Ernst Welteke is "no longer ruling out resignation" as the controversy over corporate hospitality he accepted gathers momentum.