Banking

Irish banks tighten credit standards as demand for business loans increase

Irish firms are continuing to look for loans, bucking a trend seen in the wider eurozone

The survey from the Irish Central Bank feeds into the wider survey from the ECB, which showed demand for credit in the euro zone continued to slow, although it may be bottoming out. Picture: Fergal Phillips

Irish banks tightened their credit standards for loans and saw an increase in demand for business loans in the final three months of the year despite a drop in interest from the wider Eurozone.

The quarterly bank lending survey from the Central Bank of Ireland, which comes just 48 hours before the European Central Bank (ECB) is set to revisit interest rates, revealed Irish banks had increased credit standards, or the required characteristics for a ...