This (credit provision) is the bank's duty in regard to inclusiveness, so as to penetrate the wet market of each's area
Jakarta (ANTARA) - There are still some micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that are refusing to get credit from banks, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has said.

"When I went to visit the wet market, there were some vendors who refused to get credit because they felt like their businesses were going (great), thus there was no need for credit. There were also some who did not want to get credit because they were concerned about debt," the minister informed here on Tuesday.

He called on banks to publicize the credit program more so that there would be more MSMEs who are interested in obtaining credit, particularly micro loan (KUR).

The potential for bank credit is vast, considering there are many MSMEs that have a great turnover, but have yet to access such credit, he pointed out.

"This (credit provision) is the bank's duty in regard to inclusiveness, so as to penetrate the wet market of each's area," he said.

The government has increased the target for people's business credit disbursement this year from Rp370 trillion (US$24.7 billion) to Rp450 trillion (US$30 billion).

The realization of national KUR disbursement in 2023, as of June 12, was capped at Rp87.48 trillion (US$5.8 billion), with the number of debtors reaching 1.6 million, he informed.

The minister said that for a whole decade, the realization of KUR for MSMEs reached Rp1,200 trillion (US$80 billion), or about 20 percent of the total national credit of Rp6 thousand trillion (US$400 billion).

"The President expected that the realization can be changed, reaching 30 percent," he added.

According to Hartarto, the disbursal of credit is meant to help improve MSMEs by a great margin.

One of the government's credit programs is Cluster KUR, which is specifically targeting business groups that involve partners and are engaged in public plantations, fisheries, agriculture, and MSME industries, as well as groups that manufacture local products using locally sourced products, as well as other productive businesses.

According to the ministry's data, as of December 15, 2022, the Cluster KUR realization reached Rp4.8 trillion (US$320 million), or 96.7 percent of the total Rp 4.9 trillion (US$326.7 million), he affirmed.

Moreover, there were 14,888 clusters listed in the program as well as 1.3 million MSMEs, he added.

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Translator: Imamatul Silfia, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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