are to encourage banks to do more small business lending (e.g., provide loan guarantees), provide tax incentives for equity investments, and provide government financial assistance programs (e.g., microloans, subsidized interest rate loans, R&D funds). In the latter case, the major approaches are to reduce the asymmetry of information flow between SMEs and investors improve accountability of banks for small business lending (e.g., statistical reporting, setting minimum levels for SME loans as a percentage of total loan portfolio), and provide counseling services to SMEs to improve their ability to secure debt and equity financing