The financing of SMEs in Tunisia
Despite their numerical importance and the role they are assigned in the promotion of the private sector, Tunisian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) fail to fulfill the requirements of banks in order to meet their financing needs. The estimation of the very first disequilibrium model applied to Tunisia is based on a panel data set of 1 275 Tunisian SMEs observed between 2001 and 2006. It shows that the demand for bank credit is not determined by « endogenous » factors such as the activity level and internal available resources of SMEs, but rather by « exogenous » factors such as the cost of financing and guarantees required by banks. The requirements of banks especially regarding real guarantees explain to a large extent the lack of bank lending as compared to the needs expressed, and results in an average share of 80 % - partially or totally - credit rationed SMEs.