The government has announced the establishment of the StrategicBanking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) which will provide an initial €500million lending fund to high-growth SMEs by the end of the year.

The Irish Strategic Investment Fund (formerly the National PensionReserve Fund), the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (Germany’s statedevelopment bank) and the European Investment Bank will provide theinitial funding to the SBCI which will lend money to SMEs through otherinstitutions including existing retail banks.

It is intended that the SBCI will have a minimum of €500 millionavailable for lending by the end of this year and will provide loans toSMEs on longer and more favourable terms than are currently availablefrom commercial banks.

Contributed by Adam Synnott.

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