Minister Of Finance Sri Mulyani: 60 Percent Of Indonesia's GDP Depends On Women

JAKARTA - The Minister of Finance (Menkeu), Sri Mulyani Indrawati, stated that at least 60 percent of Indonesia's total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) depends on women. This claim is based on the large and very significant role of women in the small and medium business world.

“We see women in Indonesia playing a very important role. Even the majority in small and medium enterprises. That means 60 percent of our GDP will depend on women," said Sri Mulyani, in the Side Event of the 66th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), in Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Thursday, March 17.

According to Sri Mulyani, of the total 60 million small and medium enterprises in Indonesia, about 50 percent of them are owned by women at the micro-level. In detail, 56 percent of small businesses are owned by women, while on a medium scale, 34 percent are owned by women.

"That means, the smaller the size of the company or economic activity, the greater the ownership by women," said Sri Mulyani.

In Indonesia itself, Sri Mulyani explained, small and medium enterprises actually provide 67 percent of job creation, which means that women play an important role in the effort to create job opportunities.

The government also has a national financial inclusion program with a target of 90 percent of women being included in it by 2024 given that women's access to finance is still minimal.

"Women still have limited access to financial institutions, because of the total bank credit, it turns out that only 18 percent of their loans are channeled to small and medium enterprises," complained Sri Mulyani.

Therefore, he continued, the government is now assigning banks to be able to channel credit to small and medium enterprises, at least at the level of 30 percent.

"This is still a challenge for some banks because they are not used to serving loans in small amounts, especially those owned by women," said Sri Mulyani.

Efforts to achieve financial inclusion for 90 percent of Indonesian women are also carried out through various programs, both in the form of education and financial literacy as well as creating access through digital technology.

He explained that so far efforts to increase financial inclusion for women have actually been carried out in various formats such as through the 10 million Family Hope Program (PKH).

"That at least creates financial inclusion by allowing women to open accounts so they can receive transfers from the government," said Sri Mulyani.