ADB-OECD Study on Enhancing Financial Accessibility for SMEs: Lessons from Recent Crises

This report takes a comparative look at Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) experiences. It aims to identify promising policy solutions for creating a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) base that is resilient to crisis, from a viewpoint of access to finance, and which can help drive growth and development. The report discusses bank lending efficiency, diversified funding models, and the challenges for SME access to finance. Lessons learned include:

• SMEs face structural challenges in their access to finance in Asia and OECD countries. Both demand and supply factors intervene;
• SMEs depend on debt instruments both in Asia and OECD countries;
• Public financial institutions can have an anticyclical role, providing credit during economic downturns;
• Similar challenges in Asia and OECD: how to increase SME bankability and bank efficiency;
• Financial crisis had a different impact in Asia and OECD countries;
• Basel III will have a different impact in Asia and OECD countries;
• Recent financial crises have motivated countries to develop alternative financing models in SME finance beyond the conventional ways of relying on bank lending;
• Policy makers need to develop a comprehensive range of policy options that support wide-ranging financing models for SMEs.