After a deterioration in the availability of external financing was reported between April and September, external financing tended to stabilise or improve over the subsequent six weeks for all but the smallest enterprises, according to a report issued by the European Central Bank.

With regard to the availability of bank financing (loans and overdrafts), the number of SMEs reporting an improvement and that of those reporting a deterioration was roughly the same, but there were important differences according to size class.

For micro enterprises, the net percentages continued to deteriorate significantly. Small enterprises reported fairly stable (but still slightly negative) net percentages for both forms of bank financing, while medium-sized enterprises reported a significant improvement in the availability of bank loans (+14 per cent, up from +6 per cent in the previous survey round) and bank overdrafts (+11 per cent, up from +2 per cent in the previous survey period).

Eurozone enterprises reported that their need for bank loans and overdrafts was increasing, albeit at a slower pace. In particular, one per cent of SMEs reported a net increase in their need (demand) for bank loans (down from five per cent in the previous survey round) and 11 per cent reported an increased need for bank overdrafts (down from 12 per cent in the previous survey round).

On the whole, the picture was similar for all sizes of enterprise, though small and micro enterprises indicated a much higher need for bank overdrafts.

A net percentage of 12 per cent of eurozone SMEs reported a greater need for trade credit (up from nine per cent in the previous survey period), while the figure for micro enterprises was 11 per cent, up from nine per cent.

Overall, large enterprises reported, on balance, a smaller increase in their need for external funding in the form of bank loans (six per cent, down from nine per cent in the previous survey round), trade credit (nine per cent, down from 11 per cent) and bank overdrafts (four per cent, down from six per cent).

Deleveraging in euro area enterprises was reported to have continued, albeit at a slower pace than in the previous round.

For SMEs, the net percentage of enterprises reporting a decline in their debt to total assets was -6 per cent, compared with -9 per cent, while for large enterprises it was -11 per cent, compared with -13 per cent. Among SMEs, micro enterprises reported neither increases nor declines in this survey round (three per cent had reported a decline in the previous survey round).

Malta and six other small countries were not included in the survey sample.