In aftermath of the financial crisis, the need for policy and regulatory support for SMEs came sharply into focus.

Many countries enacted policy reforms intended to promote SME growth. Yet little was really known about which policy levers are most effective in different contexts to promote the growth of SMEs.

Even as progress has been made in recent years to identify current gaps and challenges for SME finance, and highlight the important contribution SMEs must make to new job creation, little solid evidence exists on policy interventions that work. The Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) SME Sub-group initiated this project to capture successful policy initiatives from G-20 and other countries in response to that need.

The resulting case studies cover a range of policy interventions from direct funding for SME finance and loan guarantees to help shore up finance for SMEs, to regulatory reform, and policies and support for infrastructure. They include several innovative mechanisms for securitization, e-money, mandatory targets, and the collateralization of movable assets and establishment of effective registries. Download the report here.