(Bloomberg) --
Euro-area small businesses entered the coronavirus lockdown fretting about losing access to bank loans because of the damage to their finances, according to the European Central Bank.
Small and medium-sized companies, the backbone of the 19-nation economy, saw their own financial situation as one factor impeding their ability to secure credit for the first time since 2014, an ECB survey showed on Friday.
Prospects for lending in the future were especially gloomy in Italy, Europe's original epicenter of the crisis. Spain and France also showed sharp declines in expectations, according to the survey, which was conducted among 11,236 enterprises from March 2 to April 8.
Since then, the ECB and European governments have introduced far-reaching measures to help companies survive in what's likely to be the region's worst postwar recession.
The central bank has complemented public-sector grants, loans and guarantees with generous financing programs for banks, encouraging them to pass on the funds. Last month, policy makers eased the terms on an existing plan and introduced a new, unconditional lending scheme.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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