As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold across the world in 2020, the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) began to see the scale of the impact it would have on SME development and SME finance availability. The inevitable economic downturn placed severe strain on SMEs globally and demanded a national and international response.
The WAIFC, promoting the benefits of sharing best practices and new financial and regulatory initiatives, commissioned a survey of its members on the ways that financial centers globally, alongside national governments, central banks, regulators, and the supranationals are responding to the economic crisis, specifically asking for information on how urgently needed support to SMEs is being developed, directed and delivered.
Comments on the release of this landmark report
Jennifer Reynolds, President of the WAIFC, stated:
“We are pleased to share this Report on SME Economic Recovery as part of our contribution to our broader work on the role of financial centers in supporting the global economic recovery. The response from national and international policymakers and the financial industry across the world has been urgent, decisive, and targeted in support of the SME sector.”
Dr. Jochen Biedermann, Managing Director of the WAIFC, added:
“SMEs are the backbone of our economies. We must support them in surviving the current pandemic and then smoothly entering a sustainable economic recovery phase.”
You can download the publication at https://waifc.finance/resources.
Image: Martin Sanchez/Unsplash
