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Finding customers remains dominant concern for eurozone SMEs: ECB report

Xinhua, June 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Seeking customers remains the primary concern for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the euro area, according to the European Central Bank's (ECB) Wednesday publication of its report on the results of a survey on enterprises' access to finance.

The semi-annual report provides evidence on changes in the financial situation, financing needs, and access to financing of SMEs in the euro area in the six months from October 2015 to March 2016, as well as comparing the situation of SMEs with that of large enterprises.

Finding customers is still their main concern, the report said. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said they considered gaining customers the most important concern. Due to the weak consumption demand in the bloc, the SMEs have encountered significant problems with enlarging their sales market.

According to the report, access to finance was considered the least important concern for euro area SMEs, while availability of skilled labour, increases in production and labor costs, and competitive pressures and regulation were next on the list of concerns after gaining customers.

Overall, 10 percent of surveyed SMEs said they have difficulties getting financial support, down from 11 percent in the previous round. Some 31 percent of SMEs in Greece, 13 percent in Italy and 12 percent in Ireland and the Netherlands mentioned that access to finance was the most significant problem, compared with around 6.0 percent of SMEs in Austria and Germany and 8.0 percent of SMEs in Finland.

The SMEs reported an increase in their need for bank loans, the report said. Of the 30 percent of SMEs that had applied for a loan, 68 percent received the full amount requested and 8.0 percent reported their applications had been rejected.

The SMEs expressed in the survey they wanted an improvement in the availability of bank loans, a further fall in interest rates, and an increase in the available size and maturity of loans and overdrafts. Endit