Financing SMEs Through Guarantee Instruments During and After the COVID Crisis, Following the Example of the Republic of Bulgaria

Katerina Vojcheska-Nikodinoska – University of National and World Economy (UNWE), Department of Finance, Sofia, Bulgaria; Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Economic Research Institute, Department “Economics of the Firm”, Bulgaria

Abstract: The paper presents an evaluation of the measures to support SMEs as well as the characteristics of the standard guarantee instruments and those that are modified and specially created in connection with overcoming the Pandemic COVID – 19 with derived theory and obtained empirical results. In order to pre­vent a large part of the real economy from becoming insolvent, most European countries have taken measures to support companies to help their immediate liquidity needs. The measures included: temporary deferment or remission of taxes; moratorium and restructuring of loans with postponement of repayments or extension of terms; guarantees to facilitate obtaining new loans on favour­able terms; covering part of the salaries and other operating expenses; direct aid for businesses with imposed restrictions, etc. The measures and guarantee instruments showed different effectiveness, with the greatest positive effect on liquidity being those supporting employment and current expenses, followed by the measures related to debt service and use of new loans, and the least impact showing postponements of taxes.

8th International Scientific Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology, Tourism, Economics, Management and Agriculture – ITEMA 2024 – Conference Proceedings, Hybrid (Zayed University, Dubai, UAE), October 24, 2024

ITEMA Conference Proceedings published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ITEMA conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Varaždin; Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Institute of Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland; Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”King Michael I of Romania”, Romania

ITEMA Conference 2024 Conference Proceedings: ISBN 978-86-80194-89-9, ISSN 2683-5991, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.2024

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