During the crisis, SMEs were seeking loans to cover the deterioration in trading 2/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  conditions and support balance sheet restructuring. In 2012, 40 per cent of credit applications from Micro-SMEs were for “stressed” reasons, which include revenue declines, increased bad debts, or a slowdown in debtor collection. By 2016, this figure had dropped to 13 per cent.
Inflation remained fairly stable during this period, as upward pressures from increased aggregate demand were balanced by downward pressures on unit labor costs (for any given level of wages) and by the increase in aggregate supply created by higher productivity.