Latest figures from the Central Bank show that lending to SMEs grew in the first quarter of 2018 to €3.6 billion, or 3.3% higher than in Q1 last year.

Drawdowns for agricultural purposes were the largest component of the lending figure, with a total of €858m in gross new lending going to this sector over the period.

While the new loans figure was up, net lending continued to decline as SMEs repaid €108m more than they borrowed, though the overall annual fall in net lending of €146m — 0.9% — was the smallest since 2010.

SMEs are enterprises with fewer than 250 employees, whose annual turnover does not exceed €50m and/or whose annual balance sheet does not exceed €43m — the standard EU definition of an SME.

For larger enterprises, the trend was the opposite, with a 1.9% annual increase making this the fourteenth consecutive period of annual growth.

In Association with

The total outstanding amount of credit to all Irish-resident private sector enterprises was €88.6 billion at 31 March. Excluding financial intermediation, which accounts for 52% of total credit, outstanding stock was €42.5 billion. 

Overall, total credit advanced to private enterprises increased by 0.3% in annual terms to stand at €27.6 billion on 31 March. Drawdowns exceeded repayments by €69m over the year. This was made up of an increase in large enterprise net lending of €21m, offset by the decrease in SME lending of €146m.

Credit to non-financial enterprises declined by 1% over the previous four quarters, as private-sector enterprises repaid €425m more than was drawn down in new loans. The real estate sector drove the overall decline with repayments exceeding new lending by €463m over the year.

Large enterprises in the wholesale, and business and administration sectors were the main sources of the annual net growth, recording lending increases of €280m and €123m respectively over the year. In quarterly terms, six large core sectors registered net increases, but overall repayments exceeded drawdowns by €192m.

Deposits held by private enterprises also rose by by €5.6 billion over the previous four quarters, or an annual rate of 6.3%, with total outstanding deposits now standing at €92 billion. Excluding financial intermediaries, the annual rate of increase was 8.5% and total deposits came to €55.3 billion.

Full details and extensive charts are available on the Central Bank website.