Fernando Santiago, president of the Administrative Managers. /
The Administrative Managers warn that nearly 100,000 companies are already in technical bankruptcy
The rise in costs due to inflation and the foreseeable tightening of the conditions for accessing credit in the midst of a rise in interest rates once again threaten the business of small and medium-sized companies, which are already weighed down, in addition to the impact that has had the pandemic on its profit margins.
“There are sectors that are recovering very well, such as tourism and hospitality, but others such as textiles or vehicles are plummeting,” warns Fernando Santiago, president of the Administrative Managers. From the sector they calculate that some 700,000 companies currently have liquidity problems, with about 100,000 in a situation of technical bankruptcy.
Financing
In his daily dealings with these companies, Santiago warns that problems have also been detected with the renewals of the ICO-backed loans that were granted during the pandemic. “The bank began to cut back because it does not trust the State guarantees and work has been put into renewals,” he insists. According to the calculations of these experts, 25% of small and medium-sized businesses have a ‘Covid ICO’. “Of them, 85% have encountered difficulties in the banks to extend the amortization periods included in the Code of Good Practices of the sector”, insists Santiago.
He also denounces that, although “there are things that the Government has done well with European funds such as the development of the Digital Kit”, the Next Generation aid is not reaching companies. Among other things, because they face a very complex bureaucratic burden that, for many groups, is practically inaccessible, also due to the poor approach to the digitization process of the Public Administration, according to the managers.
In this environment in which financing will be more expensive and costs continue to grow, administrative managers warn that many businesses are moving to the shadow economy “in order to survive”. Faced with this situation, they ask the Government to impose effective mechanisms to give oxygen to SMEs. Among his proposals, greater tax cuts and, above all, that incentives or bonuses for small businessmen not be eliminated.
“The situation is very bad. We are in times in which the legislation does not favor SMEs and the self-employed and the problem is that, in addition to those that have closed, no real entrepreneurs enter; the new companies that are created is because they find the doors of the labor market closed and they have no other choice, “says Santiago.
Despite the fact that the data on the evolution of the labor market continue to show signs of strength, the president of the administrative managers criticizes that “whatever they say, fewer hours are being worked, part-time contracts are increasing, 70% of the contracting continues to be public… nothing moves at the private level».