Government Pressure on Banks is Coming to Late

Focusme Magazine welcomes the new injection of lending to Small Business, but asks if the government should have acted much sooner to curb Small Business closures and increase lending.

‘If We Succumb To a Dream World, We’ll Wake Up In a Nightmare’

Three years ago Ireland woke up from its slumber to realise that it was in a total nightmare. One of the worst affected sectors was that of small business. The seriousness of the task faced by SMEs was evident from the beginning. The collapse of the economy and the subsequent exodus of foreign investors, showed how over exposed we were and not just from the banking sector. The state of SMEs was frightening and it still continues to this day.

This week Brian Lenihan will announce a €12bn bank lending plan to small businesses that have been starved of credit. The minister is likely to announce the plan to release €3 billion each from AIB and Bank of Ireland to SMEs in 2010 and again in 2011. But is this all to Late?

For nearly three years Small Business has been ravaged by the economic downturn which has affected every part of this island. On average four firms a day closed under the tenure of Brian Cowen and his government. That is over 3600 small businesses which have been forced to close their doors forever. While we here at Focusme Magazine welcome the lending to SMEs, we cannot help but think that it has come far too late.

For to long the Small Business Sector has been the dog that has been tied up in the back yard, away from sight and sound. Left to our own devices, left to starve. Now we are being asked to be grateful to the master for bringing us back to health. Where was this stimulus package when business owners had mortgages to pay? Where was it when creditors and debtors were causing untold hurt?

There is no doubt that this news is a significant boost to SMEs across the country. But if the lending had been begun in earnest then maybe we could have been looking at the rapid expansion of businesses, jobs and an economy that has begun to turn a corner in reality and not in rhetoric.

Our own experience here at the magazine has been the same, it has been a battle. But last week we were approved for a loan from A.I.B. and now we can finally begin to get our business on the road to success. We’ve won the battle, but the war isn’t over. We know we’ve done a lot but there is still a long way to go. But we are living proof that maybe the banks, the economy and the government psyche are beginning to change.

With the right lending and this new encouragement to SMEs maybe we can begin to rebuild and progress. It will still be hard but now that the right people are getting behind us we can, not only begin over, but plan for the future.

Maybe now we can wake from the nightmare and fulfil our dreams.