SBCI today published a report on the economic impact its lending activity had in the SME marketplace in 2015.
Key new findings include:
– SBCI lending supported 17,000 jobs in Irish SMEs
– SBCI’s loan rates were on average 1.5% lower than market rates
– The top 5 sectors in which lending occurred were: hotels & restaurants, agriculture, health, retail and other business services.
– 92% of SBCI loans are being used for growth and investment versus 53% of current SME lending market loans
Commenting on the report, CEO Nick Ashmore said: “These initial figures show that the more choice and competition generated in the SME lending sector, the more we can help our indigenous businesses grow and support jobs and so we hope to build on this initial impact and further support Irish economic activity with an active pipeline of new lenders and funders in 2016.”