Farmer Debt Removed, Prabowo Insults Big Entrepreneurs Who Don't Pay Trillions

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto highlighted the poor treatment of farmers' and large entrepreneurs' debts. Small farmers have difficulty accessing cheap credit, while entrepreneurs with trillions of debt can still get restructuring or debt reduction.

The statement was made by Prabowo at the 79th National Cooperative Day Summit at Gelora Bung Karno, Senayan, Jakarta, Sunday, July 12, 2026.

Prabowo said the government had written off the debts of millions of farmers who were no longer able to pay. The policy was taken because many farmers were trapped in loans while waiting for the harvest.

"That's why one of my first policies, maybe in the first few months, I will cancel the debt of millions of farmers who can't pay," said Prabowo.

According to the President, the planting and harvesting period can last around 100 days. During the wait, farmers still need money for school fees, medicine, and family needs.

Because it is difficult to access credit, they often borrow from usurers. The interest is said to be up to 1 percent per day.

"It's deadly. They can't get up for their whole life," he said.

Prabowo then compared this situation with large entrepreneurs who have much larger debts.

"Even big entrepreneurs don't pay their debts. It's easy. The debt is trillions and they don't want to pay. Then they use haircuts, restructuring. There are cool terms. The people can't," he said.

Haircut is a reduction in part of the value of debt, while restructuring is a rearrangement of payments so that debtors find it easier to repay their obligations.

Prabowo assessed that small people must also have a reasonable way out. Therefore, the government encourages the formation of credit cooperatives in every village and sub-district.

The cooperative will provide micro and supermicro loans with lower interest rates. Prabowo said the interest rate for the Mekaar program had been reduced from 22 percent to 8 percent.

"I want 5 percent. But the bankers said it was too thin because there were costs. Okay, 8 percent. Compared to 22 percent, it's pretty good," he said.

The government targets around 81 thousand Red and White Village and Village Cooperatives to be formed throughout Indonesia. This figure follows the number of villages and villages that exist.