Germany: Bundesbank Monthly Report: The economic situation of small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany

Small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany are currently facing a particularly difficult situation. An evaluation of the Bundesbank's corporate balance sheet statistics according to size classes, presented here for the first time, confirms this assessment. In the sectors analysed, the persistent sluggish growth environment has had a greater impact on the earnings of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) than on those of large firms. This is likely to have been due mainly to the greater relative dependence of SMEs on the (weak) domestic economic activity. Moreover, the financing conditions for small and medium-sized firms, which had already been tight for some time, have deteriorated further