The European Central Bank, the institution that oversees the monetary policy of the 17 EU member states, recently published its fourth report on the results of its “Survey on the access to finance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the euro area.” According to the survey results, euro area SME’s external financing needs increased slightly between September 2010 and February 2011 while access to bank loans for SMEs continues to improve slightly. SME leaders perceive the availability of bank loans to have improved slightly as has the rate of success when applying for a loan. However, the percentage of respondents reporting access to finance as their main challenge generally remained the same. The survey includes data from approximately 7,500 firms collected between February 21, 2011, and March 25, 2011.
The report can be accessed at http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/accesstofinancesmallmediumsizedenterprises201104en.pdf?30c7bfd27160accd0c3bb7f9db5168ac
By Jacqueline Foelster, Research Associate
About European Central Bank: Established in 1998, the European Central Bank is the institution that oversees the monetary policy for the 17 EU member states. Its key tasks are to define and implement the monetary policy for countries that use the Euro as their currency, conduct foreign exchange operations and promote sound operation of the financial market infrastructure. Mr Jean-Claude Trichet has been the president of the ECB since 2003.
Source and Additional Resources:
[1] European Central Bank, Press Release, “Report on the results of the survey on the access to finance of SMEs in the euro area – September 2010 to February 2011”, http://www.ecb.int/press/pr/date/2011/html/pr110427_1.en.html
MicroCapital.org Brief, February 28, 2011, “European Investment Fund (EIF) of Luxembourg Makes $1m Equity Investment in Italian Microfinance Institution (MFI) PerMicro”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-european-investment-fund-eif-of-luxembourg-makes-1m-equity-investment-in-italian-microfinance-institution-mfi-permicro/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: European Central Bank, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=European+Central+Bank
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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