##ties, government and corporate bonds, short - term interest rates and exchange rates, and extending to both the industrialized and the emerging economies. the reduction in volatility is largely ascribable to structural developments in the financial markets. the increase in the share of assets managed by professionals such as institutional investors and hedge funds has increased their liquidity, while the rapid growth of the markets for the transfer of risk has allowed investors to cover their exposures and to allocate risks in a way that is probably more efficient than in the past. the quality of monetary policy has also made a positive contribution. central banks today formulate their objectives more clearly and transparently, communicate them to the public more efficiently and implement monetary policy decisions with greater gradualness ; these major changes have been rewarded by a stabilization of expectations regarding inflation and short - term interest rates, with positive effects on longer maturities as well. however, this favourable scenario is not without risks : pronounced balance - of payments disequilibria, high crude oil prices, signs of inflationary pressures in the advanced countries, the risk of an inversion of the benign conditions now prevailing on the international financial markets. the current account deficit of the united states has continued to expand and is set to exceed $ 800 billion this year ; it could rise further in the coming months. the deficit has been accompanied by a further widening of the surplus of the major asian countries and the formation of huge surpluses in the oil - exporting countries. the existence of pronounced current account imbalances does not necessarily imply a threat to the stability of the international economic and financial system. deep, liquid and interconnected markets like today ’ s can easily permit these imbalances to be financed. the crucial problem is to understand whether the current trends are sustainable and whether the adjustment will take place in an orderly fashion. the studies and explanations presented to date help us to understand the origin and persistence of these imbalances but do not demonstrate that they can last forever. according to imf estimates, the continuation of a us deficit at the present levels, equal to 2 per cent of world gdp, would imply a further increase in the share of world financial portfolios invested in us instruments. until some time ago, the deficit was financed by building up external liabilities represented by direct investment and equity portfolio flows. more recently, purchases of debt securities have increased sharply ; a significant role has been played by the investment in us securities of the reserve assets accumulated by the countries

meet the smes ’ short - term financing needs and to fund guarantee schemes so as to mitigate credit risk. regulators have envisaged specific provisions for smes in revising and strengthening the rules on banks ’ capital requirements. supervisory authorities have put pressure on banks to bolster their capital and thus their ability to withstand macroeconomic risks. in what follows i briefly summarize the effects of the crisis and recall the main contributions of the different policies to facilitate smes ’ access to finance in these circumstances, with special attention to the italian case. i conclude with some general thoughts on the financial architecture of smes, with a view to making them more robust to external shocks and to promoting the long - term growth of our economies. 2. the crisis the financial crisis in 2008 and the ensuing recession left a heavy legacy of joblessness and lost growth in the euro area. the area saw a mild recovery in 2010, but then the sharp worsening of the global growth outlook in the second part of 2011 and the eu ’ s slowness in shaping policies to counter the crisis, together with a perceived risk of a break - up of the bis central bankers ’ speeches monetary union, fuelled renewed tensions. the economic impact of the so - called sovereign debt crisis was stronger in countries with larger internal or external imbalances and was further reinforced by financial markets ’ fragmentation along national lines. the crisis quickly affected banks ’ funding conditions, since sovereign spreads have a significant impact on banks ’ funding costs, and hence on their ability to provide credit to nonfinancial corporations. cross - country disparities in both the growth and the cost of loans to firms mounted during 2011 ; they moderated somewhat in 2012 and the first half of 2013 but they remain significant to this day. the tightening of bank lending to firms was widespread, but findings drawn from qualitative and quantitative data consistently suggest that the effects were most severe for smes, owing to their limited ability to tap alternative sources of finance. in italy, where the increase in the sovereign risk spreads was substantial and the share of bank - dependent smes very large, these developments had even heavier repercussions than elsewhere. the average interest rate on new loans up to €250, 000, a proxy for the cost of credit to smes, rose more steeply than that on new loans greater than €1 million. moreover, large industrial groups, most of them listed, had in principle the alternative of going to the market as at