The Government has launched a further low cost Covid-19 loan scheme for businesses. The finance will be available to small and medium businesses (SMEs) including farmers, fishers and food businesses.
Low cost loans between €25,000 and €1.5 million will be available with terms of one to six years. Credit will be available without security where the loan amount is less than €500,000 and the finance will typically feature a lower interest rate than other comparable lending in the market.
Up to 30% of new loans may be allowed for refinancing of existing short-term credit. In order to qualify for the loans, businesses must have experienced an adverse impact of a minimum 15% in turnover or profit due to the impact of Covid-19.
The scheme is delivered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), through participating lenders. The Covid-19 Loan Scheme replaces the Covid-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme (CCGS) which closed at the end of June.