CREDIT TO IRISH businesses in the private sector has been tightening, according to The Central Bank of Ireland.

In their latest review, they state that while there has been further advances in the stabilisation of Ireland’s domestic banking sector in recent months, credit to businesses continues to fall.

Decline

The pace of decline is increasing for non-financial corporations in the six months to end July of this year. The bank states:

This indicates continuing weak demand and tight lending conditions for business.

The largest declines have been in the sectors of wholesale/retail, hospitality and construction.

Similar trends exist for household lending, as repayments outstrip new draw downs for both mortgage and non mortgage lending. The cumulative decline in mortgages outstanding now exceeds €6 billion for the last three years.

The review states that the banking system in Ireland continued to shrink in recent months, stating the total assets of credit institutions operating in the state were €786 billion.

Excluding internationally-focused banks in the IFSC, the domestically-relevant banking system’s total assets declined by 20.1 per cent over the twelve months to end of June.

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