Jakarta – The government has emphasized that it will be selective in determining which Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will benefit from the debt forgiveness program. This policy is aimed at MSMEs that are struggling to pay off loans due to unavoidable business risks.
Secretary of the Ministry of MSMEs, Fitri Rinaldi, stated that factors such as decreased income due to COVID-19 or natural disasters are key considerations.
“The hope is that after they receive debt forgiveness, their credit history will be clear, allowing them to access new loans for business capital,” she said.
This step is expected to provide a fresh start for MSME actors who are burdened with financial issues and to encourage inclusive economic growth. The government will also provide support to MSMEs to help them avoid falling back into bad debt.
“The support will cover business management, production, and marketing,” she added.
This policy is regulated in Government Regulation (PP) No. 47 of 2024 on the Cancellation of Bad Debts for MSMEs. The regulation includes the cancellation of MSME loans recorded by state-owned banks (BUMN), with a total of IDR 2.5 trillion in bad debts forgiven.
Minister of MSMEs, Maman Abdurrahman, mentioned that the targeted sectors include agriculture, plantations, livestock, as well as creative industries such as fashion, culinary, and others. The government also hopes this step will have a positive impact on MSMEs that have long struggled to access capital due to poor credit histories.
The government aims to have at least 1 million MSMEs benefit from the debt forgiveness facility. However, the implementation of this policy still faces some challenges, especially in technical aspects.
“Many MSMEs are located in remote areas, and some may have even changed their addresses. We will make every effort to reach our target of 1 million MSMEs,” Maman said.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, revealed that 71 thousand MSME actors have already received debt forgiveness facilities from the State-Owned Banks Association (Himbara).
“Based on our monitoring, Bank BRI has been the most active in implementing debt forgiveness,” said Airlangga.
Airlangga explained that this policy is part of the government’s support for MSMEs. The debt forgiveness policy is regulated in Government Regulation (PP) No. 47 of 2024 on the Cancellation of Bad Debts for MSMEs.
“Under the leadership of President Prabowo Subianto, one of the initiatives implemented in the first 100 days is debt and debt cancellation as a form of support for MSMEs,” he added.
