Jakarta, Oct 16 (Antara) - The government will provide Rp1.5 trillion for 30 export-oriented small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs; UKMs) as working capital to ensure their survival and prevent them from laying off workers amid the economic slowdown.
The funds worth Rp50 billion to be given to each recipient company are included in the fourth tranche of the government's economic policy package announced on Thursday, October 15.
Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro affirmed that the working capital to be provided by the Indonesian Export Financing Institution (LPEI) for businesses will save some 27 thousand workers from being laid off.
"After making a calculation, we find a potential (working capital) that could safeguard 27 thousand workers from being laid off," Minister Brodjonegoro stated while referring to the LPEI credit extension scheme, which is included in the government's fourth installment of its economic policy package announced on Thursday.
The minister explained that the credit assistance will be provided for SMEs whose businesses are export-oriented or supporting exports in a bid to ensure their survival and prevent worker layoffs.
The working capital will be given to 30 small companies, each having at least 50 workers though not exceeding 5,520. The assistance will be channeled by state-owned or private banks as well as capital venture and leasing companies that are partnering with the LPEI.
"The LPEI mapped them based on the criteria. Until now, 30 companies have the potential to receive the working capital, which will support other credits they have obtained from other banks," the minister remarked.
He revealed that the working capital assistance amounted to Rp50 billion for each of the companies involved in various production sectors, such as furniture, timber products, handicraft, textile and textile products, marine and fisheries products, agriculture, plantation, and footwear products.
The SMEs that have been registered to receive the assistance are from the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, Jambi, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Bali, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua, among others.
Until now, the amount of working capital provided for the SMEs has reached Rp696 billion of the one trillion rupiah set aside in the 2015 revised state budget. The funds are allocated in the form of State Capital Participation in the LPEI.
"We have prepared the required regulations and procedures. Through this policy, we hope to prevent layoffs and boost exports. In essence, this policy is aimed at assisting SMEs and preventing workers from being laid off," the minister noted.
Besides credit extension by the LPEI to boost exports and efforts to prevent work relation severance, the fourth tranche of the economic policy package also included deregulation in the wage payment system and expansion of those who can receive micro loans under the smallholder's credit (KUR) scheme.
The government on Thursday announced the fourth installment of its economic policy package, aimed at enhancing employment, increasing the number of micro loans (KUR) recipients and facilitating export development by small businesses.
"We hope the latest economic policy package can easily boost the business world. This policy is expected to facilitate of the growth in job opportunities and incoming investment," Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said.
He said the newly announced policy package, therefore covered polices on the deregulation of the wage system, expansion of KUR recipients and the extension of credit by the Indonesian Export Financing Institution (LPEI) to small-scale businesses so that they can ramp up their exports.
Chief Economic Minister Darmin Nasution had stated that the fourth phase of the government's economic policy packages would focus on the efforts to overcome problems in the manpower sector.
"The fourth tranche will mostly deal with the employment problem, the formulation of minimum wages, and manpower licenses. It will be related to several licenses," Nasution said.
The chief economic minister did not elaborate too much on the fourth tranche. However, it is certain that there will be a streamlining of bureaucratic licensing procedures to offer convenience to workers.
Darmin Nasution said that basically the Indonesian government issued a series of economic policy packages in an effort to maintain the country's economic fundamentals in the face of dynamic global challenges.
"We are trying to boost economic activities through investment and government capital expenditure, hoping that the economy will move positively," Darmin said at an event held to publicize the government's economic policy package on Thursday.
According to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, all economic policy packages of the government, including the fourth tranche issued on Thursday, aim to improve Indonesia's economic conditions.
"Regulations outlined in the economic policy packages aim to help the economy develop in a better, easier, and cost-effective manner, so that it will become more efficient," the vice president remarked.
Earlier, the government had issued the third installment of its economic policy package on Wednesday, October 7, 2015, which covered cuts in the prices of fuel oils, electricity tariffs, and gas; expansion of KUR credit recipients; and streamlined procedures relating to land permits for capital investment, among others.
The third installment was the follow-up of the first and second phases of the package, which were announced in September 2015, and covered deregulation, among others. It aims to improve the investment climate and accelerate development projects.
The guideline of the issuance of the economic policy package is to expedite the conducive development of a macro economy, boost the national economy, protect low-income people, and improve the development of the village economy.
The tranches of the policy package have been issued by the government to overcome the ongoing economic slowdown, which is a result of an uncertain global economy, and to reinforce the Indonesian economic structure and competitiveness. ***3***(A014/INE/o001)
EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/O. Tamindael) 16-10-2015 13:26:35 |
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