*  *  *  Access of SMEs to credit and other financial services is a perennial topic for policymakers, besieged – as they often are – by frustrated entrepreneurs who, whether wishing to expand or dodging closure, are unable to access the credit necessary to do so.
The pat answer traditionally offered by market fundamentalists to the effect that, if creditworthy, the business would have secured financing from eager and shrewd financiers, wears thinner these days after we have seen the consequences of massive credit misallocation.