Government Offers Debt Restructuring to Cow Milk Producers in Indonesia: Teten Masduki

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki extended a helping hand to the country’s cow milk producer by offering credit restructuring as a way to ease their difficulties from the coronavirus pandemic.

Teten was in Pemijahan Village, Bogor Regency on June 27 to socialize a credit restructuring program. As part of the program, he met with the Bogor Producers of Cow Milk and Livestock Cooperative.

During the visit, the Minister acknowledged the difficulties Indonesian SMEs face in growing their business during the coronavirus pandemic.

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As such, the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs has offered credit restructuring solutions to assist Indonesian SMEs during this difficult time.

Among the solutions is debt relief through credit/loan restructuring with recipient partners of the ministry’s financing programs.

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“We’ve included this Bogor cooperative to our loan and credit restructuring program. Members of the cooperative have expressed their difficulties in paying their remaining installments totaling Rp 1.9 billion," said Teten.

"Thus, the obligation to pay the remaining installments has been postponed for a year, or at least it doesn’t have to be paid yet. That way they will be able to keep their business afloat and that of their members,” said Teten during a press conference on June 28.

As one of the recipients of the ministry’s financing programs, the Bogor cooperative has received a loan twice.

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The first loan has been fully paid and the second that was received in 2016 will be subject to credit restructuring.

The loan from 2016 amounted to Rp 5 billion and thanks to a good repayment track record, the Bogor cooperative has been accepted into the credit restructuring program.

“Once their business kickstarts anew, we are committed to developing their business by approving a new loan step by step,” said Teten.

He has asked the local government to assist Indonesian SMEs and cooperatives in the area including producers of cow milk and livestock by creating or fixing road infrastructures.