## How Countries Are Helping Small Businesses Survive COVID-19

_IMF Blog, March 9, 2021_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [How Countries Are Helping Small Businesses Survive COVID-19](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2021/03/09/how-countries-are-helping-small-businesses-survive-covid-19)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2021/03/09/how-countries-are-helping-small-businesses-survive-covid-19/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/blogs/articles/2021/03/09/how-countries-are-helping-small-businesses-survive-covid-19/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/blogs/articles/2021/03/09/how-countries-are-helping-small-businesses-survive-covid-19/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Kazuko Shirono, Esha Chhabra, Yingjie Fan
- Published: March 9, 2021

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### Context and authorship
- Chart of the Week
- COVID-19
- Kazuko Shirono, Esha Chhabra, Yingjie Fan
- March 9, 2021

### Economic impact on small businesses
- The economic downturn caused by the pandemic has taken a painful toll on small businesses; scores of retail businesses have permanently closed in cities around the world since the Great Lockdown in the spring of 2020.
- Small and medium enterprises account for:
  - "half to two-thirds of private sector employment in the United States and the European Union, respectively"
  - "close to 40 percent of national income in emerging economies."
- Without government support, the failure rate of small businesses could increase "by as much as 9 percentage points."

### Main findings from the IMF’s Financial Access COVID-19 Policy Tracker (130 countries)
- Overall adoption rates of policy measures to help cash-strapped small businesses:
  - Financial assistance such as grants: 77 percent of countries
  - Public guarantees on loans: 50 percent of countries
  - Delays in loan repayments: 30 percent of countries
  - Tax relief: 28 percent of countries
  - Lower interest rates: 24 percent of countries
- Variation by income group:
  - High- and middle-income countries:
    - Averaged 2.5 and 1.9 measures, respectively
    - About 80 percent implemented financial assistance
    - Other measures account for a smaller share, ranging "from 20 to 60 percent"
    - Example: Bolivia, Botswana, and India adopted both financial assistance and loan guarantees
  - Low-income countries:
    - No low-income country in the policy tracker adopted more than two measures
    - Financial assistance adopted by 75 percent of low-income countries
    - Tax relief adopted by 33 percent of low-income countries
    - Examples: Mali, Rwanda, and Uganda

### Policy implications and use of the tracker
- Monitoring policy measures to support people and small businesses will be critical as countries prepare for the recovery.
- The policy tracker can help policymakers:
  - Identify effective policies
  - Share experiences
  - Learn from each other

*Source: IMF Blog — "How Countries Are Helping Small Businesses Survive COVID-19" (Kazuko Shirono, Esha Chhabra, Yingjie Fan, March 9, 2021).*

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## Content in this bundle

- **Financial Access COVID-19 Policy Tracker**
  - [Financial Access COVID-19 Policy Tracker (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/topics/covid/fas-tracker/2020-fas-covid-19-policy-response-tracker-smes-and-mobile-money-03-02-2021.xlsx.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Financial Access COVID-19 Policy Tracker (XLSX)](/-/media/files/topics/covid/fas-tracker/2020-fas-covid-19-policy-response-tracker-smes-and-mobile-money-03-02-2021.xlsx){rel="external" type="application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet"}

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## References

- [as much as 9 percentage points](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2020/09/25/COVID-19-and-SME-Failures-49753)
- [Measuring Financial Access: 10 Years of the IMF’s Financial Access Survey](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Departmental-Papers-Policy-Papers/Issues/2020/05/12/Measuring-Financial-Access-10-Years-of-the-IMF-Financial-Access-Survey-49298)
- [2020 FAS Trends and Developments](https://data.imf.org/en/datasets/IMF.STA:FAS)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2021/03/09/how-countries-are-helping-small-businesses-survive-covid-19_