Access to bank financing for companies - 2025-Q2
Published on the 4th of August 2025
Demand for business loans is stabilising along with the cost of credit.
- Requests for investment loans remained stable for Mid-Sized Companies (MSC) and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) compared to the previous quarter. They remain at a very low level for cash flow loans.
- Investment and cash flow loan approval rates remain high, despite a slight decline compared to the previous quarter for investment loans to MSC and SME, and for cash flow loans to MSC.
- The share of companies reporting an increase in the overall cost of credit continues to fall.
NB: bank credits alone are examined in this survey; MTEs have access to private financing options, which provides them with financing solutions not covered by this survey.
Data not seasonally adjusted, in %; excluding use of previously granted credit lines
Scope: companies with autonomy to decide on credit applications: SME = 10 - 249 employees; MTE = 250 - 4999 employees
Scope: companies with autonomy to decide on credit applications: SME = 10 - 249 employees; MTE = 250 - 4999 employees
New investment loans
- The proportion of companies applying for new investment loans remains stable at 19% for SME and falls to 26% for MSC in Q2 2025 (see Chart 1).
- Approval rates for these loan applications are very high for both SME and MSC: 97% of SME and MSC that applied for a loan obtained it in full or for more than 75% of the amount requested (see Chart 2).
New cash flow loans
- The proportion of companies requesting new cash flow loans remains low. It has risen slightly to 6% for SME, while remaining at 5% for MSC (see Chart 3).
- For this type of credit, the rates of obtaining all or more than 75% of the loan are increasing for both SME and MSC. Over the last quarter, the approval rate for SME rose from 84% to 86%, while the rate for MSC increased from 91% to 95% (see Chart 4).
Additional information
1 - Credit lines
For operating needs, SMEs and MTEs can apply (usually at the beginning of the year) for credit lines granting them drawing rights throughout the year.
- Requests have remained stable for several quarters across all business sizes: almost a third of SME and nearly half of MSC have applied for credit lines in the past 12 months (see Chart 5).
- These requests continue to be largely granted (in full or for more than 75%) in over 95% of cases for both SME and MSC.
- 54% of SME drew on their credit lines, a level comparable to that of the previous quarter. For MSC, 55% drew on their credit lines, a decrease of 5 percentage points compared with Q1 2025.
2- Supply rate for equipment loans
Among investment loans, equipment loans are intended to finance intangible or tangible assets, excluding real estate.
- Approval rate for equipment loans remains high across all company sizes: 93% of SME and 90% of MSC that applied for this type of loan obtained it either in full or for more than 75% of the requested amount (Graph 6).
3- Evolution of the cost of credit
- In Q2 2025, 88% of SME and 90% of MSC reported that the overall cost of credit had remained stable or decreased (see Chart 7).
- Compared with the previous quarter, the proportion of businesses reporting an increase in the overall cost of credit fell again, to 12% for SME (down 4 points) and 10% for MSC (down 2 points).
- The proportion of SME reporting a decrease in the overall cost of credit compared with the previous quarter rose by 3 points to 24%. For MSC, the figure remained stable at 36%.
- A greater proportion of businesses reported that the cost of credit was stable compared with last quarter: 64% of SME (up by 1 point) and 54% of MSC (up by 2 points).
4. Self-censorship
Self-censorship refers to a situation in which a company does not apply for new bank credit because it anticipates that the banks will refuse. This phenomenon remained marginal in Q2 2025: fewer than 2% of businesses reported self-censorship as a reason for not applying for cash credit lines or investment credit.
Lack of need is the main reason given by businesses for not applying for cash credit: 89% of SME and 91% of MSC cited this reason. Similarly, in the case of investment credit, 86% of SME and 90% of MSC stated that they had not applied for credit due to a lack of need. Refusal to take on additional debt and the company's unfavourable situation were also mentioned as reasons for not applying for credit.
Lack of need is the main reason given by businesses for not applying for cash credit: 89% of SME and 91% of MSC cited this reason. Similarly, in the case of investment credit, 86% of SME and 90% of MSC stated that they had not applied for credit due to a lack of need. Refusal to take on additional debt and the company's unfavourable situation were also mentioned as reasons for not applying for credit.
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Updated on the 1st of August 2025