Budget 2018 low-cost loans: what to expect

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe’s Budget 2018 announcements this Tuesday pave the way for two separate loan schemes at subsidised rates.

New low-cost loan scheme for farmers

The Department of Agriculture has received €25m to develop “Brexit response loan schemes for farmers, fishermen and food businesses in 2018”. These will only be designed next year and there are no details yet about the conditions for the loans.

The funding available is equivalent to that used to make €150m available to borrow at 2.95% for up to six years last February.

Brexit loan scheme for agribusiness

This separate €300m pot will be accessible “at a competitive rate to SMEs, including food businesses given their unique exposure to the UK market, to help them with their short-term working capital needs,” Minister Donohoe said. Some 40% of the funds will go to food businesses.

An Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Frances Fitzgerald added that the scheme would be open to firms employing up to 500 staff and charge around 4% interest. Commercial banks will roll out the loans to their customers.

The scheme will be managed jointly by the Departments of Agriculture and Enterprise contributing €9m and €14m, respectively, with financial backing from the European Investment Group, the European Commission and the SBCI.

Minister Fitzgerald said that her department was also developing a long-term loan scheme for businesses exposed to Brexit.

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