The Bank of Ireland said new credit approvals for Irish businesses were up by 13% to around £2.6bn in the first nine months of this year.
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div>The Bank of Ireland said new credit approvals for Irish businesses were up by 13% to around £2.6bn in the first nine months of this year.
The lender, which is one of the traditional ‘Big Four’ Irish banks, now provides more than half of all new lending to Irish SMEs.
Bank of Ireland said just under 50,000 applications were received for new or increased lending since the beginning of this year, with 88% being approved.
Mark Cunningham, Director of Business Banking at the Bank of Ireland, said: “The continued recovery of the Irish economy is evident through our business and agricultural lending data, with both applications and approvals up on last year.
“There has also been a significant increase in lending for the purchase of commercial vehicles, indicating amongst other things that those in construction and related trades are starting to see a renewed pipeline of activity.”
The Bank of Ireland is also supporting SMEs through its Enterprise Town Programme.
It said it is investing over €430,000 in 3,500 businesses, 2,000 sports and community groups and 100 schools during the course of this year.
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