Wholesale and retail trade sector in Poland: use of de minimis credit guarantees by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
Wholesale and retail trade sector in Poland: use of de minimis credit guarantees by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises

Summary/Abstract: Objectives:The paper aims to present and assess the functioning of the de minimis guarantee programme for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the wholesale and retail trade sector in Poland.Material and methods:We are focused on SMEs. We analyse all enterprises that, when applying for financing with the credit guarantee, have declared the type of activity they conduct as wholesale and retail trade, according to the Polish Classification of Activities (PKD). We analyse granted guarantees that secure investment loans and revolving and non-revolving working capital loans. The research period covers the years 2013-2020. Data come from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK). We apply the two-sample t-test to verify whether the mean values of the number and value of credit guarantees among analysed SMEs significantly increase in the consecutive years of the 2013-2020 period.Results:The study reveals visible fluctuations in the number and value of de minimis guarantees obtained by the SMEs in the wholesale and retail trade sector. However, in 2019-2020 we observe their substantial growth. SMEs in the analysed sector primarily use the de minimis guarantee programme to secure revolving working capital loans. Micro-enterprises obtain 75% of the total number and 40% of the total value of guarantees. We observe substantial regional differences in the number and value of granted guarantees among 16 Polish voivodeships. The t-test analysis confirmed that both numbers and values of credit guarantees are significantly greater in 2019-2020, at a 1% significance level.Conclusions:Changes in the de minimis guarantee programme, stricter lending policy, and harmful effect of an unexpected outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic trigger a substantial growth in the use of guarantees among analysed SMEs in 2019-2020.

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