Sri Mulyani Is Glad That Fintech Supports SBN Uptake For Infrastructure Development

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Instagram @smindrawati)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani appreciated the steps taken by financial technology (fintech) companies to participate in selling online retail state securities (SBN) through distribution partners.

According to the Minister of Finance, the funds collected from the sale of SBN are used by the government for various strategic programs, including infrastructure development throughout Indonesia.

"The government and regulators will continue to support innovation in the digital financial services sector in order to make a greater positive contribution to the Indonesian economy," she said in an official statement after attending the 2021 Indonesia Fintech Summit (IFS), quoted on Sunday, December 12.

The Minister of Finance added that along with the acceleration of the adoption of digital financial services and changes in people's behavior towards a digital economy, the digital financial sector, including fintech, has enormous potential.

"On the other hand, we all have to anticipate new business models of digital financial services in order to provide better consumer protection," she said.

It was stated that investors through fintech media grew from 7.9 percent in ORI16 in the 2019 period to 11.9 percent in ORI17 in 2020.

Furthermore, the state treasurer also emphasized her commitment to continuing to support the development and contribution of the fintech industry to strengthening the national digital economy through regulations that are able to spur the birth of digital financial service innovations.

"In addition to continuing to provide support through accommodative regulations, the government has also made the investment in the development of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure one of the main priorities," she said.

To note, the position of government debt as of the end of October 2021 was at Rp6,687.28 trillion, or equivalent to 39.69 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

This book is lower than the position in September 2021 which was Rp6,711.52 trillion or 41.38 percent of GDP.

Meanwhile, the latest debt position as of October 2021 which amounted to Rp6,687.28 trillion consists of Rp5,878.69 trillion government securities, and Rp808.59 trillion loans (domestic loans of Rp12.41 trillion and foreign loans of Rp796.18 trillion).