Does the previous paragraph surprise you? Probably some of you will answer in the affirmative. Especially those who have read a recent Cesgar report, widely disseminated in the media over the weekend, whose main conclusion was that access to SME financing has deteriorated in recent months. Among other data from this recent survey by the Spanish Confederation of Mutual Guarantee Societies (Cesgar) are that the percentage of companies with financial problems has grown in Q3 to 74.4% (previously 50.6%) or that 18.7% (15.2%) did not obtain financing during the period under review. These are unsettling figures, considering the high weight of SMEs in the Spanish economy. For example, it is estimated that more than 70% of new employment corresponds to these companies. Their financing is therefore fundamental for the economy. Indeed, it is for everyone.
And credit institutions are consistent with this, given that bank loans account for more than 80% of financial sector financing to small businesses. Have they reduced their financing to SMEs? Have they made it more expensive? According to Cepyme’s own survey, reread the initial paragraph, this has not been the case. And yet, across all companies (small, medium, and large), there has been a slowdown in the growth rate of new loan concessions from Spanish banks: from double-digit growth rates in the middle of the year to almost negligible figures recently. Nevertheless, bank credit figures for SMEs continue to grow. In the case of loans up to 250 million Euros, the increase in new credit in the first ten months is 4.2% (5.6% in the last twelve months). For loans up to 1 million Euros, the increase so far this year has been 2.8%. Furthermore, you already know how wholesale financing versus bank financing can explain the 33% year-on-year decrease in loans to medium and large companies for more than 1 million Euros. All these data come from the Bank of Spain.
