Entrepreneurs Propose The Government To Provide Working Capital Assistance Of IDR 600 Trillion

Chairman of Apindo Hariyadi Sukamdani. (Photo: Ministry of Manpower)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) has proposed that the government provide a stimulus in the form of working capital assistance of IDR 600 trillion for handling the economic sector affected by COVID-19. One of them is for labor-intensive businesses.

Chairman of Apindo Hariyadi Sukamdani said that this working capital is needed after the government provides credit restructuring to entrepreneurs, not only by corporations but also by the MSME sector.

Hadiyadi said, several businesses that would receive capital assistance include hotels and restaurants, land transportation industry, food and beverage industry as well as textile labor-intensive and several other industries.

"We are doing it together with Kadin and cross-sectoral, with approximately IDR600 trillion of venture capital assistance needed for a year," said Hariyadi, in Jakarta, Thursday, July 2.

According to Hariyadi, banks should be able to provide lower interest, which is below 10 percent or a single digit. Because, the world is currently under pressure due to the pandemic. In addition, working capital assistance is also an allocation of government assistance from the State Budget (APBN).

In addition, Hariyadi assessed that the assistance budgeted by the government through the placement of government funds worth IDR 30 trillion in the Association of State-Owned Banks (Himbara), was not enough. The reason is, these funds are only intended for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises or MSMEs. While the corporation is not included.

"It seems that the assistance is not enough if we really direct it to the needs of all of them. Earlier, Rp 30 trillion was only for MSMEs, so it must be recalculated," he explained.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner for Public Relations and Logistics of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Anto Prabowo, said that his party is currently listing the companies that will receive working capital assistance.

Furthermore, he said, the OJK would recommend MSMEs and labor-intensive companies that are threatened with termination of employment (PHK) for their employees. Including, considering the readiness of the company to reopen its business before this capital is disbursed.

"We are proactive in collecting data so that it is flexible and of course the company records before COVID-19 are still good," he said.

For your information, previous working capital assistance has been proposed by the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) to maintain its business. Currently hotel occupancy rates are very low and operational costs have soared due to mandatory health protocols. In fact, many hoteliers choose to close their businesses temporarily.