Fianna Fáil Jobs Spokesperson Dara Calleary has accused the Government of washing its hands of SMEs as new figures show the economy is being starved of credit. The figures from the Central Bank show that lending to SMEs dropped by 6.2% last year.  Gross new lending to SMEs amounted to €1.9billion. The outstanding amount of credit advanced to SMEs dropped by 5.5% last year, while SME non-financial credit fell by 5.1%. “These figures show across the board reductions in all types of credit available to SMEs in all sectors last year.  It’s clear that the credit crisis is deepening, with banks restricting the working capital available to viable businesses and … Continue reading Govt washes its hands of SMEs as economy starved of credit