G. whereas due to the financial crisis and the credit crunch that arose in consequence SMEs are facing an extremely high cost of credit and the contraction of its availability; whereas, according to the Institute of International Finance, smaller businesses in the peripheral Member States are paying between 4 and 6 percentage points more for bank loans than their counterparts in central Europe, which is putting them at a significant disadvantage and thus hampering the region’s prospects for economic revival and net job creation;

30. Rejects the cuts introduced by the Council on Heading 1b, which would lead to a much more serious shortage in payments than already expected and would impede the reimbursement for already spent resources to the beneficiary Member States and regions, with serious consequences especially for those Member States which are already under social, economical and financial constraints; points out again that this heading is responsible for two thirds of the current outstanding commitments and that cutting the level of payments for 2013 would also lead to a strong increase in the level of RAL by the end of next year; asks therefore the Commi ...[+++]ssion to present an analysis on the situation of RAL and a sound strategy as to how the level of RAL should be reduced; calls on the Commission to provide Parliament with information on a monthly basis on the breakdown per Member State and per Fund of the claims submitted for reimbursement;

While the broad financial-market situation in the EU remains fragile, and uncertainty is still weighing strongly on private investment and consumption, the risk of a credit crunch has been reduced, largely due to the liquidity measures taken by the ECB.

If an aggravation of the sovereign-debt crisis were to result ultimately in a credit crunch and a collapse in domestic demand, this would probably entail a deep and prolonged recession.

24. Consequently, and in order to avoid a potentially serious shortage of payment appropriations, underscores the budget decision to restore the PDB as regards payment appropriations for the Structural Funds (Title B2-1 ); creates a substantial reserve in order to assess the likely supplementary needs and to ensure a balanced provision of appropriations between the Structural and Cohesion Funds; invites the Council to engage in a realistic assessment of the level of payment appropriations necessary to clear the backlog of commitments from the 1993-1999 period;

Mr Wilhelm Molterer, EIB Vice-President responsible for lending operations in Russia, stated: “The loan signed today will improve the availability of long-term finance to SMEs and mid-cap companies that are suffering from a scarcity of credit and relatively high interest rates.