The importance of liquidity
Readily available liquidity, such as cash, deposits or cheques, is a sign of a business's robustness. It’s the driving force for its operation and survival, especially in today's highly volatile and unpredictable environment.
Lack of liquidity is a basic problem, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. For this reason, business owners must be able to anticipate difficulties ahead and manage their ready cash wisely, based on sound forecasting of their current and future needs. In this context, and especially for businesses that cannot meet their needs with their available funds, or are unable to take advantage of significant opportunities that arise due to lack of liquidity, banks have created working capital financing solutions.
Inhibiting factors
With the financial crisis of the last decade, the health crisis that followed, and the energy crisis that currently burdens businesses and households, the lack of liquidity concerns an ever-increasing number of enterprises, mainly SMEs.
According to the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with the start of the pandemic in April 2020, 85% of businesses declared that they were facing liquidity problems, a percentage that decreased as a result of the relief measures, but remains indicative of the degree to which unpredictable conditions affect businesses’ liquidity, especially small businesses (with up to five employees and turnover below €250,000).
In view of the liquidity conditions and their impact on the operation of businesses in the short and medium term, banks have developed a range of solutions, depending on the profile and needs of businesses.
Financing solutions for working capital
National Bank of Greece offers a set of flexible solutions through which you can have immediate access to funds, tailored to the needs and transaction profile of your business.
With Working Capital Credit Line, you can cover your business's needs such as operating expenses, trade obligations, the ability to provide more credit to your customers, with the option of recycling the principal you've repaid (revolving/open credit line) within its validity period.
Depending on your needs and business goals, there are also other solutions available, such as working capital financing through Overdraft facility, by means of which you have instant access to cash, repaying the principal depending on your liquidity within the term of the product and paying interest every six months. Another solution that covers the one-off needs of a business and which is an ideal financing tool for recently set up businesses is the Lump sum working capital, which comes with a specific repayment plan.
Aiming at meeting businesses’ needs, our financing products include a host of solutions such as Open Business Plan, Business Loan Express, and various other types of financing, all options of which every business owner should be aware.