Business Climate Improving Among Greek SMEs

Business climate is constantly improving in Greece and there are "increased margins of accelerating the recovery in the business sector as export activity has not yet managed to operate as a dynamic recovery pylon," National Bank said in a bi-annual report on Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises.

The report, based on a sample of 1,100 enterprises, said that Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises were expressing the need for institutional reforms so that an improved competitiveness -through a vertical cut in labor cost- to be reflected on increased export activity.

"Demand expectations are positive for the first time during the crisis, however liquidity is restrictive. The business climate continued improving in the first quarter of 2014, returning to positive levels for the first time during the crisis. This improvement is more intense among large enterprises, as most smaller SMEs remained on a survival mode. On the other hand, the liquidity problem remains significant with the pressure intensifying mostly because of faster payment of suppliers," the survey said.