Financing in SMEs: Case of the Baltic States

Access to finance represents one of the most significant challenges for SMEs' entrepreneurs. To ensure SMEs creation, existence and growth it is vitally important to understand the financing needs of SMEs and entrepreneurs, the main obstacles to finance availability and accessibility. The study indicates the difficulties in SMEs financing for the three Baltic States and provides the governments and other stakeholders with a tool to understand SMEs' financing needs. The study results highlight importance of alternative resources of external financing for small developing countries such as the Baltic ones and the need to support the design and evaluation of policy measures and to monitor the implications of financial reforms on SMEs' access to finance. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.