Using unique borrower-level balance sheet information for a cross-section of 6,000 Irish SME loans, this paper tests the determinants of default at the micro level. Typical financial ratios, such as the ratio of the loan to total assets, the current ratio, leverage ratio, liquidity ratio and...

The detrimental impacts of credit booms, property booms and firm over-leverage are well-established in a growing literature highlighting their effects on household consump- tion, firm investment and economic growth. The link between credit-fuelled property market booms and firms' ability to...

An overhang relating to the pre-crisis property investment of Irish Small and Medium Enterprises has been identified as a potential drag on a recovery in employment, investment and output. This Letter aims to provide information from survey and loan-level data which can help to quantify the...

This article looks at the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) segment which is regarded as an important contributor to sustainable economic and employment recovery.

This Economic Letter analyses original interest-only mortgages in Ireland. While interest-only arrangements have been widely used as a means of temporary forbearance to deal with the current mortgage arrears crisis, mortgages were also originated on interest-only terms during the height of the...