€5.4m in Loans Approved to 357 Small Businesses
5th February 2016
Microfinance Ireland (MFI), the State backed not-for-profit lender to micro-businesses, has announced a record 50% rise in the number of loan applications during 2015.
Approvals for start-ups, sole traders and small businesses have also reached an all-time high with the lender approving €5.4 million in funding to 357 businesses across every county in Ireland throughout 2015, lending that supported the creation and maintenance of 930 jobs last year.
MFI, which was established in late 2012 by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation under the Action Plan for Jobs, has to date approved €11.6m in loans to 770 businesses. A total of 752 businesses applied for loans in 2015, compared with 508 applications for 2014, an increase of 48%. The average loan size approved during 2015 was €15,190.
MFI loans have helped sustain and support a total of 1,821 jobs since the organisation’s founding, working in close partnership with Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) as well as with small business organisations and mainstream bank SME lenders.
