Cabinet paper says risk-averse banking sector is bottleneck for small business funding

Stats NZ found 16% of smaller enterprises considered themselves 'equity constrained'. (Photo: Supplied)

Mon, 25 Jul 2022

A cabinet paper released on Friday warns the government may need to take on more risk than commercial lenders if it wants to create funding options for small businesses. The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) has been looking for ways to support the growth of small to medium enterprises with revenue between $3 million and $30m. Officials told Cabinet that small growth-focused businesses are constrained by a capital gap that prevents them from being able to access finance or investment. One reason for this, th...

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