JOHN Swinney will maintain pressure on banks to lend to Scottish businesses, claiming the Project Merlin agreement between the UK Government and lenders appeared to be having little effect.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Mr Swinney also said he had asked Scottish Enterprise to help companies prise money out of banks, a role the agency appears ready to fill.
The chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, Lena Wilson, says she has already been involved in some negotiations between client companies and banks.
Launching the revamped Government Economic Strategy, expanded to include a focus on supporting companies in the low-carbon economy, Mr Swinney said shortages of funding could hamper potential growth firms.
“We’re not going to let up talking to banks about this,” he said.
He added that the Scottish Government will “keep up the temperature” on the UK Government regarding the effectiveness of the Project Merlin agreement in improving access to finance for businesses. In February five leading banks agreed to increase lending to businesses, especially SMEs.
Mr Swinney said: “We are awaiting data on the effectiveness of Project Merlin specifically at the Scottish level ... because our survey data suggests that there’s been only marginal improvement and the anecdotal data does not make me think it’s much different.”
Mr Swinney claimed increased competition between banks in Scotland would be “one of the most helpful things that could happen”.
He also wants Scottish Enterprise to use the knowledge the agency has of the companies it works with to support them in discussions with banks.
He added: “I have asked Scottish Enterprise to be more active participants on behalf of the company base that they support in arguing the case for bank investment in those companies.
“If we have gone through an exercise where we have dispassionately considered the company base of Scotland in identifying those companies we believe have got growth potential, then I want to see that intellectual capital deployed in discussions with the banks to make sure we can support companies in gaining access to finance which is crucial to fund their economic performance.”
Ms Wilson suggested Scottish Enterprise could train relationship managers in banks to understand the growth potential of some businesses and the hurdles they face.
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