Forecasts for this year and 2010 continue to be revised downward, as more concrete data become available. A bleaker outlook is in the offing, with the impact of the crisis trickling down to the real and external sectors, affecting trade, investment and consumer demand.
We cannot say that this money will necessarily go to these smaller enterprises but it is certainly very close to them. We have this in mind because nearly three quarters of corporate employment in the euro area is in the small and medium-sized business sector.