Multilateral Development Banks and their Role in Supporting European SMEs during the Current Financial Crisis

The impact of the ongoing financial crisis on the availability offinance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represents an importanttopic nowadays. The access to finance for SMEs is a major barrier for theirgrowth, especially during severe conditions such as the global financialcrisis. Financing the SMEs represents a priority for the most of the multilateraldevelopment banks. The aim of the paper is to analyze the activity of Europeanmultilateral development banks - European Investment Bank Group and EuropeanBank for Reconstruction and Development - in the support of SMEs. We found thatSMEs financing increased during the period 2008-2011 and the internationalfinancial institutions took several measures in order to improve the SMEsaccess to finance. &nbsp