Kadin Sambut Both Credit Interest Programs 0 Percent For SMEs

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Regional Autonomy Development Sarman Simanjorang welcomed the SOE Minister's suggestion regarding the zero percent credit interest program for micro and small businesses.

According to Sarman, the zero percent interest program is a breakthrough awaited by micro and small business actors, who have had difficulty applying for loans to banks, one of which is due to administrative requirements such as company documents, profit loss reports, to loan and guarantee allocation proposals.

"With this program, it becomes a breath of fresh air and is a sign that millions of micro and small businesses will recover and revive to drive the grassroots economy to accelerate recovery and strengthen the national economy," he said in a statement in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Friday, February 24.

Sarman said that now is the right moment to empower micro and small business actors to become one of the pillars and strengths of the national economy in the midst of the threat of a global economic crisis.

Moreover, the contribution of MSMEs to Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) was up to 62.55 percent and contributed up to 97.22 percent of employment.

Unfortunately, even though the contribution of MSMEs is high, access to financing for this segment has only reached 21 percent. So, it's no wonder that many MSME actors borrow additional capital from moneylenders with very high interest rates.

"Our hope is that later on in its implementation so that the distribution of zero percent interest loans is right on target and right on target. The data on zero percent credit recipients must be transparent and open to clear businesses," he said.

Sarman assessed that the role of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs as well as the Cooperatives and SMEs Office in the regions as well as micro and small business associations is highly expected to provide valid data so that the recipients of this program really are micro business actors who really need working capital.

"If our MSMEs grow and rise quickly, of course, we hope that they will slowly advance to class and be able to provide new jobs for the nation's children so that they will contribute to reducing the unemployment rate," said Sarman.

Previously, Minister Erick Thohir continued to encourage low-cost funding for micro-enterprises, where he submitted a proposal for providing zero percent interest on loans for micro-enterprises to the Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) Perry Warjiyo.