Tapping the potential of alternative funding for SMEs

Singapore

IN August, the Ministry of Trade and Industry narrowed the economy growth forecast to between one and 2 per cent, down from between one and 3 per cent. Singapore firms are seeing the lowest profit expectations in seven years, and bank loans have also fallen for the 10th straight month.

This climate has left small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) short of both profit and loan avenues to tide through this uncertain economic period. With banks tightening credit and given uneasiness of borrowing from family and friends, SMEs face the options of pawn shops or loan sharks, neither of which are desirable.

SME financing, an unbreakable code

SME financing is a cyclical and structural challenge across the world, not just in Singapore. The cyclical barriers of falling sales, weakened collateral, risk aversion among financial institutions and regulatory overhang limit SMEs' ability to get and banks' ability to give a loan. The high search and transaction costs for SME loans, as compared to personal …