SMEs and the Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis, which had its origin in the bursting of the real estate bubble in the USA, affected the confidence in the functionality of the modern financial system. Such a situation bears the risk that the restriction of credit supply turns into an outright credit crunch. The latter is defined as a significant contraction of the credit supply and a tightening of credit conditions. Smaller enterprises are likely to be particularly vulnerable to a credit crunch as they do not have access to capital markets.