Low KUR Absorption, DPR Urges Inclusive Financing Scheme For Creative Economy

Illustration of the umkm creative economy (ANTARA)

JAKARTA Member of Commission VII DPR RI, Yoyok Riyo Sudibyo, urged the government to strengthen support for the creative economy sector (Ekraf), especially in terms of inclusive financing. He encouraged the intellectual property portfolio of Creative Economy actors to be used as collateral in the People's Business Credit (KUR) program.

"The government is aware that this MSME is the backbone of the national economy. Therefore, the government has created a supporting program, KUR, with a subsidy of 10 percent. But of all other subsidy programs, only KUR has minimal absorption," said Yoyok in his statement, Wednesday, May 7.

Yoyok asked the government to immediately coordinate with the KUR distribution agency to develop a more friendly financing scheme for small and medium-sized Creative Economy actors. He assessed that the low absorption of KUR in the Creative Economy sector which only reached 4.28 percent of the total KUR showed structural barriers, both on the regulatory side and policy execution.

In fact, regulations to support Ekraf are already available through a number of regulations such as the Creative Economy Law Number 24 of 2019 and the Presidential Regulation of RPJMN Number 12 of 2025. However, most local governments have not allocated the APBD optimally for this sector, because the Ekraf status is still considered as a sub-structure.

"The government has provided a policy to make it easier for the people, but the perpetrators cannot distribute it well. How is this a responsibility to the people?" said Yoyok.

In a working meeting with the Minister of Creative Economy, Teuku Riefky Harsya, Yoyok also highlighted various obstacles to access to financing faced by micro creative business actors, ranging from collateral requirements to credit history problems (BI checking). He mentioned that many Creative Economy actors were eventually entangled in online loans because of the difficulty of accessing formal financing.

"Pay attention to KUR requirements, so that this Government program can be absorbed by people in need," he said.

According to Yoyok, financial institutions also need to change their perspective on intellectual property assets. He gave an example of Creative Economy actors such as graphic designers, content creators, to musicians, who have assets in the form of works and high-value trademarks, but have not been recognized as collateral by banks.

64 percent of Indonesia's population is creative young people who earn but do not have salary slips. Even though they have assets in the form of content, brands, or works. But their assets are not considered valuable in the eyes of banks," he said.

Yoyok gave an example of a designer named Dita who has a brand portfolio worth IDR 300 million. With regulatory support, the portfolio should be used as collateral to obtain business capital and expand employment.

According to him, the same can also be applied to influencers and digital creators such as Fuji An or Gen Halilintar. With inclusive financing, this creative group can be a wider driver of the populist economy.

Yoyok also warned that if the government does not immediately make intellectual property a loan guarantee, the potential for Ekraf actors can be taken by foreigners.

"Mereka para influencer itu sangat butuh, agar kekayaan intelektual mereka itu benar-benar dijadikan aset untuk agunan peminjaman. Saya harap Menteri Ekraf bisa mendorong satu hal ini," tegasnya.

He added that Indonesia could imitate South Korea for successfully supporting Creative Economy through state investment, to producing global phenomena such as K-Wave. Especially in the midst of the Employment Termination Storm (PHK), the Creative Economy sector can become a productive and dignified informal economic buffer.

According to IMF data, as of April 2024, Indonesia recorded an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent, the highest among six Southeast Asian countries. Yoyok assessed that the potential of the creative sector could be a strategic solution to reduce the unemployment rate.

The Indonesian people, especially the younger generation, have a lot of creativity. So it's just a matter of how the state facilitates it," he said.

Yoyok also advised the government to expand the people's industry investment financing scheme through cooperation with financial institutions and low-interesting revolving funds. According to him, this is important so that creative business actors can advance to class and are not trapped in subsistent entrepreneurship.

"The government must work hard to ensure that the community's business scale increases, not stagnately. We must not allow the people to be pushed into the informal sector without direction and without the support of the state," concluded Yoyok.