Lending to businesses grew in November for the first time since the pandemic started, according to new data from the Central Bank.
The volume of new loans non-financial companies crept into positive territory following a sharp bounce in economic growth in the third quarter, with large loans accounting for the bulk of lending.
However, interest rates charged to Irish businesses were still more than two times higher than the eurozone average, highlighting the challenges companies face in 2021 to recover from the coronavirus recession.
Total new loan agreements by businesses in Ireland were €1.2bn in November, an increase of 7pc in annual terms. It was a significant improvement on October, when credit contracted by 31pc compared to the same month in 2019.
Some 31pc of exports from Enterprise Ireland-supported companies went to the UK last year.
The agency has previously set a target to increase exports into the eurozone by 50pc by 2020. The results of this will be known by the middle of this year, according to Ms Sinnamon.
Nonetheless, the UK will remain a top priority.
“It is our number one market… we have continued to grow our exports into the UK market, but we have grown the rest of the world at a faster rate and that has been a specific focus,” Ms Sinnamon said.
Over 17,000 jobs were lost at Enterprise Ireland supported companies last year, as Covid-19 wreaked havoc on the economy.
Advertiser ie - Additional public health restrictions - people urged to stay at home advertiser.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from advertiser.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Press release
Ireland placed on Level 5 Restrictions of the Plan for Living with COVID-19 - with a number of specific adjustments
The government has today agreed that from midnight on 24 December until 12 January, Level 5 restrictions will apply nationally. There will be a number of specific adjustments to Level 5 and, in addition, certain transitional arrangements will apply during the Christmas period.
The government has considered a number of factors in arriving at this decision, including NPHET concerns at the rapid increase in COVID-19 case numbers over recent days, the nature of social interaction likely to take place over the Christmas period involving mixing between younger and older people and the risk that this could lead to a wave of infection with a higher risk age profile.