O Government, MSME Players Not Bank Customers Also Need Stimulus

JAKARTA - Director of CORE Indonesia, Mohammad Faisal asked the government to expand the stimulus for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). This is because MSMEs are the spearhead of the national economy.

So far, said Faisal, the government has only provided stimulus to MSMEs through the bank system mechanism. This means that the new MSME stimulus is given to MSMEs who are bank or bankable customers. Meanwhile, business actors who are not bank customers have not been touched.

"Whereas 98 percent of MSMEs are micro businesses. Only 1 percent of small and medium enterprises are in the bankable sector and enjoy the banking system stimulus," he said, in a discussion entitled "A Recession in Front of Eyes: What Should Indonesia?", Tuesday, August 25.

Faisal said that even 98 percent of these ultra-micro entrepreneurs cannot be forced to have access to banks. This is because it will increase the risk of bad credit in banks. According to him, the government must provide another stimulus.

"Now banks are still healthy even though there is a decline in performance, but if forced (to provide credit) increases credit risk. Therefore, access to financing and capital for MSMEs must be expanded," he explained.

In the opinion, member of Commission XI DPR RI Mukhamad Misbakhun assessed that the stimulus should also be extended to vulnerable middle-class MSMEs with an income of Rp100 to 500 million per month. This is because this business group does not belong to the ultra-micro group or the upper-class business group. However, this group has also been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, Misbakhun said groups with a turnover of Rp. 100 to Rp. 500 million per month such as restaurants, workshops, workshops and so on.

"Individually they already have names, but they are not a growing business group. They are middle class who want to hatch, and there is no stimulus. This is what I think the government needs to provide a stimulus for," he said.

As is known, the government has allocated a cost of handling COVID-19 in the National Economic Recovery (PEN) program of IDR 695.20 trillion. One of them is used to provide a stimulus to MSMEs worth of which UMKM gets a budget of Rp. 123.46 trillion.

As for the details of the stimulus for MSMEs, namely for interest subsidies of IDR 35.28 trillion, placement of funds for restructuring of IDR 78.78 trillion, IJP spending of IDR 5 trillion, guarantees for working capital of IDR 1 trillion, final PPh of MSMEs DTP of IDR 2.40 trillion, and investment financing to cooperatives. through LPDB KUMKM Rp1 trillion.