ISME welcomes 'overdue' Credit Guarantee Scheme
The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises association (ISME) has welcomed the publication today of the Government's Credit Guarantee Bill.
"The guarantee scheme will be of assistance to job-creating SMEs who have been postponing investment decisions due to the market failure and lack of ‘normal bank finance’," ISME said in a statement.
The organisation's CEO Mark Fielding said that" while this long-awaited initiative will not be the ‘silver bullet’ for all small businesses, it will certainly be of assistance to those who have been refused bank credit in the past, due to insufficient collateral.
" The additional government guarantee will make it much more difficult for banks to refuse viable SMEs’ requests for loan finance, which has become a debilitating feature of economy since September 2008," Mr Fielding said.
“The priority is to get this bill through the Oireachtas and up and running as soon as possible, together with the long-awaited Microfinance scheme, so that cash-starved small and medium businesses can avail of them and begin the process of investment, resulting in job retention and creation."
