Indonesian State banks to disburse 6.32 billion USD to help businesses

Jakarta (VNA) – The State-Owned Banks Association (Himbara) on July 2 expressed optimism that its bank members can disburse up to 90 trillion Rp (6.32 billion USD) in loans to help small businesses recover from the severe economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Himbara chairman and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) president director Sunarso said the banks were ready and committed to expand their loan disbursements to three times the amount of funding placed by the government as part of its national economic recovery programme.

The four Himbara members comprise BRI, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) and Bank Mandiri.

The banks will prioritise the disbursement to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) segment in several sectors like food and distribution, tourism, transportation, housing and construction.

The banks deem these sectors as having potential demand amid the easing of the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) as the government strives to keep the economy running.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced last week that the government would place 30 trillion Rp in state-owned banks to be disbursed as loans to businesses to help support economic recovery.

The fund placement and the working capital loan guarantee are part of the government’s 695.2 trillion Rp budget to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has battered Indonesia’s healthcare system and the social and economy sectors.

The government now expects the country’s economy to contract by 0.4 percent this year under the worst-case scenario or grow 1 percent under the baseline scenario as the pandemic ravages the economy./.