KUR Target Hasn't Been Achieved In 2023, Teten Says Distribution Is Less Effective

Coordinating Minister for SMEs Teten Masduki (Photo: Kemenkop UKM)

JAKARTA - The distribution of People's Business Credit (KUR) in 2023 is said to have not yet reached the target. Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki said this was due to the less effective distribution scheme.

Teten assessed that it was time for the bank's credit assessment scheme for MSMEs to use other methods.

"I think (it's time) for KUR to be evaluated because it is less effective," said Teten in the 2023 Cooperative and SME Empowerment Program (reflection) and Outlook in 2024 with the theme "Accelerated Cooperative Transformation, MSMEs, and Entrepreneurships that are Inclusive and Sustainable at the Smesco Building, Jakarta, Thursday, December 21.

According to him, it is time for banks to look for other credit distribution mechanisms or schemes so that MSMEs can obtain credit. Because, the current problem is that many MSMEs cannot obtain credit from banks because of collateral obligations.

As a result, Teten also revealed that various MSMEs are now seeking loans through other parties, such as moneylenders to fintech P2P lending aka online loans.

"Faktor terutama (UMKM sulit dapat dapat pinjaman) karena agunan. UMKM soal (penybayaran) bunga itu tidak masalah yang penting mudah (dapat pinjaman). Makanya mereka pindah ke Fintech ( jumlahnya) tinggi, ke pelanjaran tinggi, (bagi mereka) tidak masalah yang penting sekarang kemudahannya ( mendapat pinjaman)," ujar Teten.

Therefore, said Teten, his party suggested that banks use other methods, such as credit scoring in assessing MSME loan applications. He views the scheme as effective in looking at the track record of MSME loans. Teten also admitted that he had discussed with a number of parties regarding this matter.

"There are already many private companies and applications that can help banks score or rank. I have also met many companies that (say) are indeed very appropriate to use (the system) because if MSMEs are required to be collateral, it will be difficult," he added.

Meanwhile, based on data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, the number of KUR realizations as of December 21 has reached Rp250.3 trillion or 84.28 percent of the target set for 4.48 million debtors. A total of 42.39 percent of them are debtors with businesses in the large and retail trade sectors.

In addition, the Kemenkop UKM has also mapped a total of Rp358.4 billion KUR clusters based on supply chains to 4,865 MSME members from 39 clusters by 9 KUR distributors.