NBG Publishes Small & Medium Sized Enterprises Report
The National Bank of Greece revealed the requirement for small and medium sized businesses to undergo institutional revisions, in its bi-annual analysis.
The Bank's report studied 1,100 companies and stated: "Demand expectations are positive for the first time during the crisis, however liquidity is restrictive. The business climate continued improving in the first quarter of 2014, returning to positive levels for the first time during the crisis. This improvement is more intense among large enterprises, as most smaller SMEs remained on a survival mode. On the other hand, the liquidity problem remains significant with the pressure intensifying mostly because of faster payment of suppliers", as reported by ANA-MPA.
The study showed that tourism, transport, food and chemical sectors experienced the largest strides. The construction sector is still working in a very weak atmosphere, and commercial SMEs appeared weak economically as well.
Regarding exports and SMEs, the analysis revealed, "A weak export activity of SMEs shows that a significant improvement in cost competitiveness -a result of a reduction in labor cost by 50 pct in the last five years- is not enough to highlight exports as a driving force of the recovery."
