This comes just 24 hours after Bank of Ireland announced that it had exhausted its €65m low-cost loan fund. This sees €125m of the €150m low-cost loan fund applied for so far.

A spokesperson for AIB told the Irish Farmers Journal: "On 31 January 2017, AIB launched a €60m Fund in conjunction with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI). The fund was designed to support the cash flow and working capital needs of Irish farmers and SMEs engaged in primary agriculture and was available at a discounted rate of 2.95%.

"Due to the significant take up, the fund is now fully subscribed and as a result the SBCI Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan offer is no longer available for new applications."

Due to the significant take up, the fund is now fully subscribed

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that Ulster Bank, the third partner bank which was allocated €25m, still has some funding available.

The scheme, which opened just weeks ago on 1 February, was expected to run until the end of September this year. However, given the huge uptake, due the attractive interest rate of 2.95% and no requirement for security, the fund looks like it will be completely used in the coming days.

While both AIB and Bank of Ireland have seen applications oversubscribed, Bank of Ireland has said that they will continue to take applications from farmers, but new applicants must go on a waiting list.

Waiting list

This means that those wishing to apply for loans under the scheme will now only be accepted on a provisional basis, and their success will depend on the number of approvals arising from applications within the system which will emerge over the next number of weeks.

These provisional applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the banks.

Bank of Ireland received the biggest allocation, some €65m, within the €150m fund, while AIB received €60m and Ulster Bank €25m.

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Low-cost loan fund exhausted – Bank of Ireland

Full coverage: Agri Cashflow Support Scheme