, including venture capital, equity crowdfunding and specialised platforms for public listing of smes ; ( 2 ) hybrid instruments, such as convertible bonds and mezzanine finance, typically involving debt instruments that, subject to a trigger, can be converted to equity ; ( 3 ) non - bank debt financing, such as corporate bonds, securitised debt and covered bonds. with the exception of corporate bonds, market - based financing is virtually non - existent in greece for small and medium - sized enterprises, as shown by the present iobe study, and is also very limited at european level. in the eu, market - based financing of small and mediumsized enterprises accounts for less than 15 % of their total financing, and is very costly. a key problem is that investors lack information on small and medium - sized enterprises. in this regard, around 25 % of all companies and around 75 % of owner - managed companies in europe do not have a credit score, according to the european commission ’ s green paper on building a capital markets union. the extent of the problem across the eu led the european commission, in 2015, to draw up and launch an ambitious plan for building a single eu - wide capital market by 2019. the plan aims to improve access to financing for all businesses across europe, increase and diversify the sources of funding, and make markets work more effectively and efficiently, by removing obstacles that make investor and business access to capital markets harder and costlier. 3 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches well - developed capital markets deliver considerable benefits to market participants and economic activity in general. first, they enable businesses to diversify their financing sources, thereby reducing their reliance on bank credit, and create an environment that is more resilient to shocks. second, they help to improve the allocation of capital in the economy and risk sharing, by offering investors a broader array of options and enabling them to make their investment decisions in line with their risk appetites and therefore finance even businesses that would have been seen, by banks, as too risky to lend to. third, equity financing in particular boosts investment without necessarily increasing private debt in the economy. progress towards the creation of a capital markets union has been steady, but rather slow. of the eight legislative proposals submitted by the european commission before early march 2018, three have been approved so far by the european parliament and the council and concern : simple, transparent and standardised securitisation as an additional source of financing in particular for small

banks, thereby enhancing banks ’ lending capacity. the above would set in motion a virtuous circle for the economy and the banking system and create the necessary conditions for investment financing and a return to sustainable growth. if consolidating confidence is a sine qua non for the above, i. e. for the increase of both domestic and total investment, greece must also take full advantage of the possibilities arising from eu and euro area membership to create a financial safety net that would convince of its ability to cope with any headwinds that could make its financing costs unsustainable, in particular in an international environment rife with financial and geopolitical challenges. ladies and gentlemen, today, greece faces the historic challenge of returning to normality and to a path of convergence with its european partners. a return to strong and sustainable growth calls for maintaining and implementing the structural reforms already legislated, as well as further crucial reforms in areas that are still lagging behind, such as the tax system, public administration, the judicial system, the link between production, research and education, the legislative and regulatory framework, especially as regards the use of land, and the goods and services markets. it is obvious that only on this condition can greece once again become a friendly place for doing business, effectively support productive investment and make a successful leap in total factor productivity. in closing, i would like to underline that, in the long run, increasing investment require an increase in private sector saving ( by households and non - financial corporations ), which, as i pointed out earlier, has declined dramatically, dropping by 11. 5 percentage points as a ratio of gdp, in ten years. the fall in saving was particularly sharp in the years 2015 – 2016, for households and businesses alike. admittedly, the capital controls combined with higher taxation led households and businesses to tap their savings, in order to meet their current needs. 5 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches however, there can be no investment without domestic saving or, alternatively, without continued foreign financing. this is why it is so important in the long run to restore the saving capacity of the private sector. in this context, the development of the second and third pillars of the social security system will not only ensure the system ’ s viability, but will also encourage households to increase their saving and open up a new channel for the financing of business investment. this will enable greece, in a self - reliant manner, to increase its