The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland has today announced a sixth lending partner to offer its finance to Irish SMEs.
SBCI said that First Citizen Finance is offering a new €50m fund for Irish agri-business SMEs seeking to buy or lease machinery, including tractors, combine harvesters and balers.
The new fund means that the SBCI has now committed 99% of its original funding (€790m of €800m) to three banks - AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank - and three non-bank lenders - First Citizen Finance, Finance Ireland and Merrion Fleet.
The announcement was made at an SBCI event in Limerick today.
"This is another key step in delivering lower-cost, more flexible funding to Ireland’s agri-business SMEs - which already account for 26% of all SBCI loans," commented SBCI's chief executive Nick Ashmore.
