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Small and Medium Enterprise Finance: New Findings, Trends and G-20/Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Progress

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2013-08
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2013-08
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This update considers new findings since the initial Stocktaking report, substantiating the contribution of the private sector, and of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular, for new jobs and investment. These findings further illustrate the key role access to finance plays in SMEs abilities and willingness to add jobs including the special circumstances of fast-growing SMEs, or gazelles. The new findings further detail availability and gaps in SME financing, including for specific subsectors such as women-owned firms and agri-enterprises. New trends include progress made in recent years to improve financial markets infrastructure, and expanded lending in countries such as China, which have made progress in this area. The findings also include key private sector innovations pioneered by the SME Finance Challenge winners and other private sector institutions, focusing on key sector opportunities (such as agribusiness and energy), product innovation (such as expanded local currency options), and risk management alternatives. The new findings and trends highlight the potential of collaborative platforms that have emerged from the G-20/GPFI (Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion) process to combine resources to improve SME access to finance, and some of the major outstanding issues and obstacles these platforms might address. The conclusion provides recommendations for priority issues and work areas for G-20/GPFI attention.
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Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion; International Finance Corporation. 2013. Small and Medium Enterprise Finance: New Findings, Trends and G-20/Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Progress. © International Finance Corporation. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21727 License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.
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