ACCESS to finance is critical for the growth of SMEs.
However, limited access to formal financial services remains a serious, structural problem for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the region, according to a new report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
In the first volume of the “Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor (ASM) 2020”, ADB notes that bank loans to MSMEs in South-East Asia averaged at 14.8% of a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) – a compound annual contraction of 1.3% – during 2010-2019.