A New Regime of SME Finance in Emerging Asia: Empowering Growth-Oriented SMEs to Build Resilient National Economies

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) stimulate domestic demand through job creation, innovation, and competition As such, they can be a driving force behind a resilient national economy. Prioritizing SME development is therefore critical for promoting inclusive economic growth in most economies in Asia.Adequate access to finance is crucial for SMEs to survive and eventually grow beyond their SME status. Yet, in Asia SMEs have poor access to finance, which is impeding their development. This paper discusses a new regime of SME finance amid an era of global imbalances, with empirical analyses of bank financing for SMEs in select Asian countries.