SME development agency will provide a boost: McKinsey

[SINGAPORE] The need to ensure that Singapore's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have access to stable financing to ensure their growth and development, is not new. But global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company has taken the discussion a step further by giving details on gaps in SME financing and providing a comparative look at policies and experiences in other countries.

Notably, it has suggested in a paper the formation of an independent SME development institution in Singapore - possibly by combining various existing agencies - with the power to: raise capital like a company; extend different forms of financing like a bank; and still operate like a strategic SME development agency to develop targeted sectors or companies.

The paper, Perspectives on Building a more Sustainable Financial Services Sector in Singapore, looks at SME financing in particular, amid its general examination of the overall viability of Singapore's financial services.