4 years ago
SMALL BUSINESSES STRUGGLING IN FACE OF FAILED GOVERNMENT SCHEMES
BRENDAN O’CONNOR MP
The Morrison Government is not doing enough to support small businesses through this crisis, with the latest Bulletin from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) revealing small businesses are disproportionately impacted by the recession, which is influencing their investment decisions.
The RBA Bulletin, The COVID-19 Outbreak and Access to Small Business Finance, confirms that the majority of businesses identified uncertainty about the future state of the economy as a significant factor influencing investment decisions.
The report highlights little demand for the government’s failed $40 billion loan scheme, which has seen only 18,000 businesses take up $1.7 billion in commitments – barely 4 per cent.
“The take-up of the Government's SME guarantee scheme has been modest, despite the relatively low cost of these funds. Around $1.7 billion of loan commitments have been made under the scheme (equivalent to around ½ per cent of SME lending outstanding) to around 18,000 businesses.”
The RBA also warns that some banks are cautious about lending to new customers and to sectors significantly affected by the pandemic such as smaller retailers and tourism operators.
The Morrison Government has no real plan to boost small business cashflow during this economic crisis.
The Government will only make small business cashflow worse by cutting JobKeeper and JobSeeker, making the recession deeper and jobless queues longer.
The Government even voted in the last sitting week to allow big businesses to blow out their payment times to small businesses of 180 days or more by voting against Labor’s plan to fix small business payment times..
Australians need and deserve a plan from the Morrison Government to promote growth, protect small business and create jobs, and set us all up for the recovery.
The RBA Bulletin, The COVID-19 Outbreak and Access to Small Business Finance, confirms that the majority of businesses identified uncertainty about the future state of the economy as a significant factor influencing investment decisions.
The report highlights little demand for the government’s failed $40 billion loan scheme, which has seen only 18,000 businesses take up $1.7 billion in commitments – barely 4 per cent.
“The take-up of the Government's SME guarantee scheme has been modest, despite the relatively low cost of these funds. Around $1.7 billion of loan commitments have been made under the scheme (equivalent to around ½ per cent of SME lending outstanding) to around 18,000 businesses.”
The RBA also warns that some banks are cautious about lending to new customers and to sectors significantly affected by the pandemic such as smaller retailers and tourism operators.
The Morrison Government has no real plan to boost small business cashflow during this economic crisis.
The Government will only make small business cashflow worse by cutting JobKeeper and JobSeeker, making the recession deeper and jobless queues longer.
The Government even voted in the last sitting week to allow big businesses to blow out their payment times to small businesses of 180 days or more by voting against Labor’s plan to fix small business payment times..
Australians need and deserve a plan from the Morrison Government to promote growth, protect small business and create jobs, and set us all up for the recovery.