Home > Agriculture > Government launches €500m long-term lending for SMEs, Farmers and Fishing

Government launches €500m long-term lending for SMEs, Farmers and Fishing

Written by Robert McHugh, on 30th Jul 2020. Posted in Agriculture

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The Government today launched a €500 million expansion to the Future Growth Loan Scheme, the government’s scheme to support SMEs, farmers and fishing. The additional funding will be provided by the European Investment Bank Group.

The government launched the first €300 million round of the Scheme last year helping 1,150 SMEs, farmers and fishers to date make strategic investments to grow their businesses. Today’s announcement will see the European Investment Bank Group provide an additional €500m for the Scheme, bringing the total investment in the Scheme to €800m.

Loans of between €25,000 to €3 million are available at competitive rates for terms between 7 and 10 years. The scheme will facilitate significant injections of liquidity for businesses looking to develop strategic responses to the changing business conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and by Brexit. The Government says this scheme will help to facilitate innovation and ensure that our enterprise base is sustainable into the future.

To access the Scheme, businesses must apply for eligibility through the SBCI. The application form, along with full details of the scheme, is available through the SBCI website www.sbci.gov.ie.

Bank of Ireland, AIB and Ulster Bank are now accepting loan applications for the Scheme from businesses meeting SBCI eligibility. The SBCI is actively engaged with three other financial providers who responded to the open call and hopes to announce them as scheme partners in the coming weeks. Businesses are advised to check the SBCI website for up to date information in relation to participating financial providers.

Speaking this week, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said, "The past few months have been very difficult for businesses. Things will continue to be extremely challenging over the coming months and the new government must do everything possible to help businesses navigate this unprecedented time and get back on their feet. Today, we’re announcing an expansion of the Future Growth Loan Scheme. Applications are now open, making available a further €500m of long-term loans to help more SMEs make investments to enable them to expand, diversify or improve productivity."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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