Australian SMEs face financing drought, RBA official says

Traditional banks are averse to lending to innovative small firms, assistant governor says

Reserve Bank of Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia
Photo: Alex Towle

Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle to obtain investment despite “throwing the kitchen sink” at innovation, a senior official at the country’s central bank has said.

Lenders see SMEs as twice as risky as their large counterparts, Brad Jones, a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) assistant governor, said on April 4. Some 30% of small and 25% of medium-sized firms in Australia reported accessing finance to be a barrier to innovation.

Large firms’ investment in research and

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