This document lays the basis for formulating a conceptual framework of the information for the Credit Guarantee Schemes (CGS). The mission of the CGS is to provide credit to entrepreneurs who are not being assisted due to the lack of quality guarantees and to ensure this credit flows in the best conditions. The concept of financial additionality is the raison d ´ être for the CGS. The document identifies the economic effect resulting from mitigating market failure. This effect can be measured in the beneficiary entities (economic additionality) and the local economy (macro-economic impact). Access-tocredit policies should generate employment, production or other economic variables.

Economic growth is not sufficient if it does not meet the inclusion of credit, higher levels of funding or the improvement of the financial conditions for the SME. CGS requires the development of measurement tools for managing financial additionality on a regular basis. On the other hand, economic additionality assesses the appropriateness of the public guarantee policy in context.

The measurement of additionality is a great challenge to the development of a complete information system of the activity of a CGS. Financial additionality is the lever that must promote the economic additionality of a CGS. By the time it can be measured, financialadditionality can be ex ante and ex post. Through a model that simulates the decision of the financial institution, the ex ante financial additionality measures whether the operation would have been rejected (the guarantee would generate additional credit) or approved (the guarantee would notgenerate additional credit) for it. On the other hand, ex post financial additionalitymeasures the volume of incremental credit or the improved conditions of access to credit as a consequence of the activity of a CGS.

The ex ante financial additionality is directly controllable by the system managers, and there are methodologies that would allow evaluations to be obtained as the operations are developed. Ex post financial additionality measures the effect of the Guarantee policy on the financing of businesses.

Extensive and intensive financial additionality are linked to the raison d ´être for the CGS: to facilitate access to financing for micro and SMEs in the best conditions. This is the mission of any CGS.

Financial additionality should be part of the accountability of managers at least annually, whereas the assessment of economic additionality is part of the strategic review every four or five years. The paper addresses the questions of principle that affect measurement methodologies classified according to the type of data and the type of qualitative or quantitative approach. The challenge is measuring financial additionality in the short term (at least annually, but ideally on a quarterly basis).