SME bank loans

Small firms set to see £250k loans Banks are set to pledge interest-free loans of up to £250,000 for small businesses, with it reported that Chancellor Rishi Sunak's emergency coronavirus loans will initially take the form of overdrafts that could be available within 48 hours. The Mail on Sunday says SMEs will be able to borrow a quarter of a million pounds from one of 40 lenders without having to secure the loan against assets. Small firms will be able to apply for loans of up to £5m under the Government's business interruption loans programme, but these are expected to take longer to arrange and may need to be secured against assets. Commenting on the rollout of the scheme, Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Those responsible for deciding whether or not loans go ahead in the coming days need to recognise that, in a lot of cases, they'll be deciding whether a small business survives or goes bust.”