CHANGE IN THE LEVEL OF CORPORATE LENDING IN POLAND DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The main theme undertaken in this paper is the assessment of the impact of the COVID-19pandemic on corporate lending. The main objective of the article is to analyze the qualitative andquantitative changes in the level of corporate lending in Poland. The author focuses, on the onehand, on the ability of firms to incur liabilities and, on the other hand, on the changes in banklending rules over the course of a changing economic reality burdened by the crisis caused by thepandemic. The individual analyses also show a broader comparative context by referring tostatistical data before the onset of the virus crisis. In the case under review, uncertainty about thehealth of the MSP sector during the crisis weighed on the tightening of credit policy. An increasein demand for bank financing in the pandemic period was reported by both large companies andmicro enterprises. However, only in the case of the former did the availability of loans increase.As a result, the gap between the availability of bank loans to large firms and the MSP sectorwidened.

Keywords

• enterprise
• lending
• COVID-19
• state interventionism
• corporate finances
• crisis