More generally, the SME sector has undergone substantial deleveraging: the stock of loans to SMEs in 2016 is about half that in 2010. Survey evidence shows that debt-to-turnover ratios are declining and the share of SMEs with no debt is increasing.
While there was a sharp tightening in credit conditions for the SME sector during the crisis, there has been a significant turnaround over the last three years – rejection rates have been declining steadily and are now in line with euro area averages, and new SME lending has been growing strongly since 2014.