This creates a major barrier to SMEs’ investment and growth opportunities – and given their importance to the economy, to euro area growth and job creation. Ensuring access to finance for SMEs must therefore be a central tenet of achieving a sustainable recovery. Some measures have already been taken to support SME financing.
In the context of an otherwise gloomy scenario in the global financial system, the presence of robust payment and settlement systems infrastructure around the world has been a matter of great solace.