Even artisans in crisis. Skyrocketing raw material costs, record inflation and – to weigh everything down – even the war in Ukraine which opens up scenarios of extreme uncertainty and great concern, making all predictions worse. Signs that bear witness to the fragility of the moment, a moment which however has lasted for two years now and which has affected all sectors, including that of craftsmanship. Over the next three years, 28,1% of micro-enterprises and craftsmen expect to resort to the credit system to find short-term liquidity (against 10,7% in the previous two years), while 34,6% will do so to invest in the medium and long term in the company (against 40% in the previous two years). This is highlighted by the investigation of the Tagliacarne Study Center and Fedart Fidi on credit conducted on a sample of 739 artisan and micro-sized businesses.
“However, this is a scenario that needs to be monitored carefully. – he warned Cajetan Fausto Esposito, director general of the Tagliacarne Study Center – Because in the face of a further increase in market uncertainty and the prospect of an increase in interest rates, also to contain the growing inflationary tensions caused by the Russo-Ukrainian war, there could be a reduction of the propensity to invest of these companies using bank debt”.
Craftsmen in crisis: a boom in funding requests is on the way
According to the study, between 2022 and 2025 there is a boom in funding requests to meet cash needs over the next three years, but the demand for credit for investments will be the first reason for borrowing in the future programs of the craftsmen who are now also in crisis.
The banking system remains the main funding channel for these companies: in the last two years, 72,5% used it to meet liquidity or investment needs. While 18,3% resorted to self-financing with own or shareholders' capital and 6,3% to European, national and local public funds. Almost 57% of companies requested less than 200 euros from credit institutions.
"I believe it is a priority that to allow easier access to credit for micro and small businesses, a more intense confrontation with the government and the competent administrations is reopened". This is what the President of FedartFidi underlined, Fabrizio Campaioli, according to which "only through a virtuous collaboration between public and private guarantees will it be possible to generate a greater "leverage effect" of the public resources that the government has allocated to provide guarantees to SMEs".
To access the Loans necessary to fill the short-term cash deficit between 2019 and 2020, in the majority of cases personal guarantees were mainly used (43,8%). While to obtain resources to finance investments, the guarantee of a confidi (35,3%) was a priority.
Due to the pandemic emergency, the drop in turnover it was the number one reason that put 44,7% of companies in difficulty in the last two years. Followed by delays or missed collections (24,6%) and lack of liquidity (16,7%).
In the two years since the outbreak of the health crisis, the relationship with the banking system has been more critical for 27,1% of companies. Interlocution with the bank (10,1%) created more problems, but also the greater rigidity in the assessment of the company's solvency (9,5%) and the length and complexity of the preliminary investigation for the granting of a funding (7,7%).
"On the whole, however, only 1 out of 10 companies has recorded worsening conditions from the bank with respect to existing loans, and when this happened in half of the cases it referred to the request for greater guarantees", explains the Study Center.
