High interest rates and a slowing economy have not deterred SMEs from investing in their businesses, according to new research. Business finance company Scotpac’s latest SME Growth Index shows that 60 per cent of small and medium enterprises are planning to invest in their businesses in the next six months. When they survey was conducted in March last year, 55 per cent of SMEs said they planned to invest in the next six months. Scotpac chief executive Jon Sutton said the finding that a majority of SMEs have plans to invest in their businesses aligns with recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that capital expenditure pans for Australian businesses for the 2023/24 financial year are up 11 per cent on the 2022/23 year. The Scotpac survey, which was conducted by East & Partners, also found that an increasing proportion of SMEs would prefer to borrow from a non-bank. Fifty per cent of respondents said they would prefer non-bank borrowing, up from 47 per cent a year earlier. Reasons for preferring to borrow from non-banks include ease of access and avoiding using property as security. Sutton said: “Many of our new customers have bypassed or transferred their businesses from banks that are more deeply focused on the residential lending market. “Non-bank finance is fast and flexible and small and medium business owners constantly face time pressure managing their businesses.