Attention therefore was given for banking institutions to accord a special focus on providing financial services to SMEs, in particular in strengthening their facilities, outreach and services to SMEs. Today, all commercial banks have dedicated SME divisions and Bumiputera Development Units that are responsible for providing lending as well as ancillary support and advisory services to the SMEs. The commercial banks also have a specific client charter for SMEs, providing the necessary information to facilitate SMEs in applying for financing. The strategy to provide increased access to financing is also reinforced by the provision of information and financial advisory services to SMEs. In 2005, Bank Negara Malaysia established Laman Informasi, Nasihat dan Khidmat (or the LINK), as a one-stop centre for SMEs to obtain information and raise matters on access to financing directly with Bank Negara Malaysia. The LINK has dedicated staff that provides financial advisory services including for dealing with problems of obtaining financing and for restructuring of existing loans. To date, about 11,000 SMEs have sought assistance from the LINK. Another important initiative in disseminating information to the SMEs is the establishment of the SMEinfo Portal, an information gateway for SMEs. The Portal provides comprehensive information required by SMEs, including details on the Government's financial and non-financial assistance, financing products for SMEs by the financial sector, training programmes as well as advise on how to start and manage a business. The Portal also provides a platform for SMEs to advertise their products  BIS Review 13/2007  1  and services.

The recovery has been broad-based. The easing of monetary policy contributed to a sharp rise in private consumption and housing investment. Activity has picked up considerably in service industries and the construction sector. High petroleum investment, the global economic recovery, a weaker krone and lower wage growth contributed to boosting activity in manufacturing industry. Profitability has improved for mainland enterprises. Mainland fixed investment has also gradually increased. Thus, it may appear that growth in the Norwegian economy has become more self-driven. Even with a pronounced upswing in output, the increase in the number employed has been limited so far in this cyclical upturn. Measured in terms of the number of person-hours worked, however, employment growth was high last year. Registered unemployment has shown a small decline over the past year. Productivity probably increased more than normally in some industries in the early phase of the recovery. A marked fall in sickness absence may have reduced the need for new employees. Capacity utilisation in the Norwegian economy has increased, notwithstanding the decline in sickness absence and efficiency gains in the business sector. The output gap is a measure of capacity utilisation in the economy. We interpret a positive output gap to mean that output and capacity utilisation are higher than the level consistent with stable inflation over time. High domestic interest rates in 2002 and fiscal policy management contributed to substantially lower cost inflation in the private and public sectors over the past two years.