Global trade finance gap widened to $1.7tn in 2020: ADB

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MANILA: The global trade finance gap grew to an all-time high of $1.7 trillion in 2020, a 15% increase from two years earlier, as the pandemic heightened economic and financial uncertainties and devastated global trade, according to the latest Trade Finance Gaps, Growth, and Jobs Survey, released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday. The survey showed that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were hardest hit as trade finance dried up with the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), accounting for 40% of rejected trade finance requests. Women-owned SMEs found it particularly difficult to get finance, with a reported 70% of their applications totally or partially rejected. TLTP