DAVY VIEW

The key takeaway from yesterday’s (September 27th) Department of Finance Credit Demand Survey of 1,500 SMEs was the very low level of credit demand despite the very challenging trading conditions at the turn of last year. Only 20% of firms had applied for bank credit — encouragingly, 72% of those who did not apply said that they had sufficient internal funds. Despite 19% of SMEs reporting a loss during the period, only 5% said they had missed payments on their bank debt – helped by fiscal supports from the government.