Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for two-thirds of employment in the euro area which makes them a priority for the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy. SMEs in Europe experienced a credit crunch following the sovereign debt crisis. Over the period 2014–2019, the European Central Bank (ECB) engaged in unconventional monetary policy (UMP) to restore funding conditions in the euro area, to support stronger economic growth and higher inflation. We use the ECB/EC Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises to examine the relationship between monetary policy and SME access to finance in countries that were most affected by the crisis as follows: Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. We show that the implementation of UMP increases the probability that firms with higher debt-to-assets ratio remain credit constrained in stressed countries, although this effect becomes insignificant in non-stressed countries. Our findings suggest that monetary policy is transmitted unevenly to leveraged SMEs across jurisdictions. Additionally, we find little evidence that risky firms are credit constrained during periods of UMP, when risk is measured from the firms’ own viewpoint. However, our heterogenous analysis shows that smaller and younger firms—which are also considered to be risky—remain credit constrained over this period. Policy should ensure that UMP trickles down to SMEs regardless of their size, age or location. Tweetable line: Leveraged SMEs in stressed countries are more likely to remain credit constrained even when monetary policy is expansionary. Policy must do more to support small and young firms’ access to credit to facilitate higher investment and growth.

中小企业 (SME) 占欧元区就业的三分之二，这使它们成为货币政策向实体经济传导的优先事项。欧洲的中小企业在主权债务危机之后经历了信贷紧缩。2014 年至 2019 年期间，欧洲中央银行 (ECB) 实施非常规货币政策 (UMP) 以恢复欧元区的融资条件，以支持更强劲的经济增长和更高的通胀。我们使用 ECB/EC 企业融资渠道调查来检验货币政策与以下受危机影响最严重国家的中小企业融资渠道之间的关系：希腊、爱尔兰、意大利、葡萄牙和西班牙。我们表明，UMP 的实施增加了具有较高债务资产比率的公司在压力国家保持信贷约束的可能性，尽管这种影响在非压力国家变得微不足道。我们的研究结果表明，货币政策在跨司法管辖区向杠杆中小企业的传导不均衡。此外，当从公司自身的角度衡量风险时，我们发现几乎没有证据表明风险公司在 UMP 期间受到信贷约束。然而，我们的异质分析表明，较小和较新的公司（也被认为具有风险）在此期间仍然受到信贷约束。政策应确保 UMP 渗透到中小企业，无论其规模、年龄或位置如何。可推文行：即使在货币政策是扩张性的情况下，受压国家的杠杆中小企业也更有可能继续受到信贷约束。政策必须更多地支持小型和年轻企业获得信贷，以促进更高的投资和增长。