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Commercial banks’ loans for SMEs up in Georgia

Finance Materials 3 January 2021 05:01 (UTC +04:00)
Commercial banks’ loans for SMEs up in Georgia

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.3

By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:

Commercial banks’ loans for SMEs both to legal entities and household in national and foreign currencies amounted to 81.87 billion lari ($24.9 billion) from January through November 2020 in Georgia.

The amount has increased from 70.92 billion lari ($215 billion) from January through November 2019, up by 15 percent, Trend reports via the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).

According to the National Bank of Georgia, business loans for SMEs issued by commercial banks to households amounted to 37.88 billion lari ($11.5 billion) out of which 13.85 billion lari ($4.2 billion) has been issued in foreign currency and 24.02 billion lari ($7.3 billion) in national currency.

As for legal entities, business loans for SMEs in foreign currencies composed 30.07 billion lari ($9.1 billion) and in national currency – 13.92 billion lari ($4.2 billion).

Business loans for SMEs issued by commercial banks to households amounted to 32.55 billion lari ($4.2 billion) from January through November 2019, out of which 21.38 billion lari ($6.5 billion) has been issued in national currency and 11.16 billion lari ($3.3 billion) in foreign currencies. As for legal entities, business loans for SMEs in foreign currencies composed 25.72 billion lari ($7.8 billion) and in national currency – 12.64 billion lari ($3.8 billion).

According to Asian Development Bank (ADB), limited access to finance, lack of a database, low research and development (R&D) expenditures, undeveloped sales channels, and a low level of financial inclusion are some of the reasons behind the slow growth of SMEs.

As the report of ADB reads, SMEs face challenges from increased competition, ability to adapt to rapidly changing market demand, technological change, and capacity constraints relating to knowledge, innovation, and creativity.

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