Small and medium-sized businesses have secured more than £700m in loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB), according to data released by the government.

The Treasury has confirmed that over £700m of 'affordable and easy to access funding' from the EIB had been approved for nearly 3,000 small businesses in the UK, through participating national banks.

So far, a total of £1.39bn has been secured by UK banks from the EIB, of which £726m worth of loans for 2,769 small businesses have been approved. Banks act as intermediaries who lend the cash on a ‘matched funds' basis to small businesses. HBOS, Barclays, Close Brothers, Lloyds TSB, RBS Santander UK and Ulster Bank have all participated in the scheme.

"I want to encourage all businesses to get in touch with their local banks to find out if they can get access to this funding; it is an easy process and certainly worth pursuing," said Ian Pearson, economic secretary to the Treasury.