Worldwide, there is “a worrying drop” in loans granted by commercial banks to small and medium-sized businesses, warned the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It reported that last year, in three out of four countries that since 2019 have systematically reported data on SMEs’ access to credit, a decrease was recorded, which may be due to greater restrictions on access to financing, as a result of the increase in interest rates.
After an initial spike during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, 2022 saw a decline in outstanding SME loan amounts as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in many economies, the agency reported. , when presenting its Financial Access Survey.
“Of the 61 economies that have consistently reported data on SMEs in the past four years (2019-2022), a large majority (75 percent or 46 economies) reported a decrease in outstanding loans from commercial banks to SMEs as percentage of GDP between 2021 and 2022”, he exhibited.
This drop indicates that the ability to access a bank loan is more limited and/or the demand for credit has weakened due to the tightening of financing conditions; or, to the revocation of support measures implemented during 2020, such as credit guarantees and moratoriums on debt payments that sought to provide liquidity to SMEs, to avoid their bankruptcy and, consequently, the loss of employment.
The IMF also maintained that the persistent gender gap in financial access in many economies “is worrying and essential to address.” On average, men own 55 percent more deposit accounts than women and also have significantly more outstanding value of deposits than women.
The gap widens if you look at the ownership of the loan accounts and the outstanding value of the loans. “The broader implications of the gender gap are significant, with macrocritical effects on economic growth, income inequality and poverty alleviation,” he emphasized.
2023-10-04 03:59:03
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