Uncertainty and instability, because if imported inflation was high, and if monetary policy were to be targeted towards stable domestic prices (which is the general alternative to an exchange-rate-based regime), it may not be possible to keep interest rates low. If, heaven forbid, depegging were to be carried out in the conditions that we have now, then we might add a third word to "uncertainty" and "instability": "catastrophe", since nearly everyone seems to recognise that the worst possible time to change a fundamental monetary policy of this kind is when the economy is weak and when the outlook is full of risk. Those of you who are old enough will recall the circumstances that led to the creation of the Link in October 1983. At that time, we were facing a crisis in confidence in the future of Hong Kong, concerns about the soundness of a number of banks, and speculative attacks on the Hong Kong dollar. The crisis followed almost a decade of a floating exchange rate system, during which inflation rose to well over 10%, and sometimes hit 20%, and the value of the Hong Kong dollar declined from around five to the US dollar to a low of 9.6 on 23 September 1983. In the uncertainty that prevailed during that crisis, people rushed to the supermarket to stock up on rice, instant noodles, cooking oil, soya sauce, detergent and toilet paper, not knowing how much these basic commodities might cost in a week or a month's time.
In the European Union region, small enterprises are defined as those having 50 workers and an activity volume of 10 million Euros, while medium ones are those with 250 workers and an annual activity volume of 50 million Euros. In the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund adopts the criterion of the annual sales for defining small and medium enterprises whose annual sales do not exceed Rls 20 million for financing purposes according to “Kafallah” program. The World Bank has distributed a questionnaire to commercial banks to determine a definition for small and medium enterprises. The result of the questionnaire has showed that there is difference in banks’ definitions. However, it may be concluded that small enterprises are those with annual sales ranging from Rls 100 thousand to Rls 5 million and workers from 2 to 49. Medium enterprises are those with annual sales from Rls 5 million to 50 million and workers from 50 to 200. Dear audience, SMEs are characterized by many features including, simplicity of their establishment due to the low value of the capital needed for their foundation and operation, simplicity of their establishment procedures, and low cost of their establishment and administration because of the simplicity of their administrative structure. Moreover, SMEs are featured by the independent management by their owners who seek as much success as possible.