5. A minimum leverage shall be achieved in each participating Member State at the milestones set out in the funding agreement referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4, calculated as the ratio between the new debt finance to eligible SMEs to be originated by the financial intermediaries and the corresponding contribution of the ERDF and EAFRD from the relevant Member State to the financial instruments.

5. A minimum leverage shall be achieved in each participating Member State at the milestones set out in the funding agreement referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 4, calculated as the ratio between the new debt finance to eligible SMEs to be originated by the financial intermediaries and the corresponding contribution of the ERDF and EAFRD from the relevant Member State to the financial instruments.

Government deficits reached 6.5% of GDP on average in 2010 in the EU and are expected to decrease to 2.7% in 2015.[11] This reflects the massive efforts made in several Member States, particularly in 2011 and 2012, to restore the sustainability of their public finances.[12] However, given the accumulation of deficits and the slowdown in growth, sovereign debt ratios have increased markedly, from 60% of GDP on average before the crisis, to 80% in 2010 and they are forecast to reach 89.5% in 2015.[13] With growth re ...[+++]suming and deficits shrinking, gross government debt is expected to start declining in 2015.

whereas the European SME sector is very heterogeneous and comprises a huge number of micro-enterprises, family businesses that are working successfully in traditional sectors, and a growing number of new start-ups and fast-growing high-tech and highly innovative enterprises; whereas all these different business models have different problems and, therefore, different needs as regards access to finance; whereas SMEs with a high leverage ratio (high degree of debt financing) are much more vulnerable in the event of a crisis or if their riskier projects run into difficulties,

Considers that Europe’s public finances were already in a poor state before the crisis: since the 1970s the level of Member States’ public debt has gradually crept upwards under the impact of the various economic downturns the EU has experienced; notes that the cost of recovery plans, falling tax revenues and high welfare expenditure have caused both public debt and the ratio of public debt to GDP to rise in all Member States, alt ...[+++]hough not to a uniform degree across the Union;

Greece has made substantial progress in recent years in reducing the imbalances in its public finances: it has reduced the government deficit from almost 14% of GDP in 1993 to 4.0% in 1997 and is expected to reach 2.2% in 1998; the government debt ratio has been stabilised and a first reduction took place in 1997 when the debt ratio fell by 2.9 percentage points to 108.7% of GDP.