Partner: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Year: 2014

Objective of the assignment was to motivate banks and other stakeholders to search for producers and financing modalities more suitable to the SME market segment than the current bank practices, by presenting strong evidence of missed opportunities with current practice. The aim of the project was to assess whether and in which way commercial banks in Serbia can increase their lending towards resilient and growing SMEs. This analysis covered two components. The first component focused at shedding the light on the structure, performance and growth potential of Serbia’s SMEs. The second component aimed to understand and analyze bank SME funding practices in order to identify if there are opportunities to expand funding to the mutual benefit of both banks and SMEs. Our analysis and assessment were based on indicators from financial statements of all enterprises that have operated in Serbia in period of 2005 to 2012. In addition, CEVES interviewed heads of sales and risk departments in 11 banks (approximately 70% of the banking market in Serbia).

Report