The role of SMEs in the economy

The SME sector is the largest employer in any economy, and it plays an even bigger role in developing and emerging economies. However, access to credit is often a big challenge for SMEs. This is mainly because of their specific characteristics, especially their opacity and lack of verifiable information on their operations. Banks have traditionally used relationship lending to extend finance to SMEs, although in recent years other innovative lending technologies have also showed a lot of promise.