Ben Bierman SME Medium-Term Budget wish-list While local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have many wishes for the upcoming Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) that will improve the ease of doing business, none of these will be significant unless the ultimate outcome of the speech is improved economic prospects. This is according to Ben Bierman, managing director at Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/PARTNERS) – a leading risk financier for SMEs. He says that an emphasis on the creation of a supportive business ecosystem – through an increased budget allocation to the SME sector – will send a strong signal recognising and supporting the role of SMEs in generating the type of inclusive growth that South Africa so desperately needs, but that it will ultimately become a moot issue if the broader policy uncertainty and impasse around a growth imperative is not addressed. Bierman explains that although the local economy has received some good news over the past couple...