Jakarta (ANTARA) - Chief Economist of Bank Mandiri, Andry Asmoro,\nbelieves that MSME credit performance has the potential to grow\naggressively if the trade, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors also\nconsistently improve, as these three sectors contribute the majority of\ntotal MSME credit.<\/p>\n
He noted that MSME credit is concentrated in three main sectors,\nwhich account for approximately 75 percent of total MSME credit, with\nwholesale and retail trade accounting for 45 percent; agriculture,\nforestry, and fisheries accounting for 19.4 percent; and the remainder\nbeing the manufacturing sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these sectors have not grown consistently, for example, if\nagriculture still only grows at an average of 2.4 percent, it will be\nvery difficult to encourage more aggressive growth in the MSME sector,\u201d\nsaid Andry Asmoro, also known as Asmo, in Jakarta on Wednesday\nevening.<\/p>\n
As an illustration, these three sectors are the largest contributors\nto Indonesia\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP).<\/p>\n
Asmo noted that in the last three years, the average growth of the\nagriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector has lagged, at 2.4\npercent.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, trade and manufacturing have grown at an average of 5\npercent and 4.8 percent, respectively, in the last three years.<\/p>\n
The growth of the banking industry\u2019s credit this year is projected to\nbe in the high single-digit to low double-digit range, at around 9-11\npercent, according to projections by Bank Mandiri\u2019s economic team.<\/p>\n
Asmo estimates that MSME credit growth will be in the range of 4-5\npercent, so growth at the 4 percent level is considered good enough. On\nthe other hand, the ratio of MSME credit to total banking credit is\nexpected to decrease to around 17 percent, from 19 percent\npreviously.<\/p>\n
According to him, the prospects for MSME credit are still quite\npromising, especially through government programs that support the\nbusiness ecosystem. For example, the Free Nutritious Meal program can\nbuild a new value chain for MSMEs, thereby encouraging demand for micro\ncredit and consumer credit.<\/p>\n
Asmo also underlined that one of the main challenges for MSMEs is to\nensure the existence of clear off-takers.<\/p>\n
If MSMEs are integrated into the ecosystem, the existence of\noff-takers will be clear, making it easier to access invoice-based\nfinancing and create a safer source of credit for banks.<\/p>\n
On the same occasion, SVP Micro Development & Agent Banking of\nBank Mandiri, Bayu Trisno Arief Setiawan, explained that the company is\nimplementing a similar strategy, where Bank Mandiri utilizes its\ncorporate customer base to encourage the distribution of credit to\nMSMEs.<\/p>\n
Corporations usually have downstream businesses to the lower levels,\nso Bank Mandiri can distribute financing to MSMEs that are part of their\necosystem.<\/p>\n
Bayu mentioned that the growth of Bank Mandiri\u2019s MSME credit in\nJanuary 2026 was quite positive compared to the previous month. Compared\nto January last year, the micro banking portfolio also showed an\nincrease.<\/p>\n
This, according to him, confirms that the strategies implemented so\nfar remain relevant and effective in supporting the growth of MSMEs.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Bank Mandiri, so far the MSME NPL is still below 2 percent, even\nbelow 1.5 percent. So we can manage it, because our growth strategy is\ndirected towards a strategy to empower MSMEs that are derivatives of\ncorporate customers,\u201d said Bayu.<\/p>\n
He noted that of the company\u2019s total credit distribution of around\nIDR 1,500 trillion, the portion of micro banking is only around IDR 100\ntrillion. Although still relatively small, he said, this segment has\nrecorded quite good growth in the last five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what makes us even more confident that our role in\nempowering MSMEs, especially to move up a level, must continue to be\nencouraged,\u201d said Bayu.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/economist-msme-credit-could-grow-aggressively-if-three-major-sectors-strengthen-1772069621", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }