Limited access to finance is still a major concern for many European Smes. New financial instruments alternative to banks’ lending are developing, but there are market imperfections affecting Sme finance serious enough to warrant public intervention to improve the overall business climate for Smes. Governments and public institutions (like the Eib Group) play a very important role in creating a better environment for financing business, but public support cannot be the only solution – it needs to play a catalytic role to attract private financing and to crowd-in private investors
