Alarming! Only 30% of SMEs Have Access to Bank Credit

Access to banking finance for micro, small, and medium enterprises, or MSMEs, is still considered difficult. This is reflected in the number of MSME business units able to obtain new access at around 30%.

This was stated by Deputy Minister of MSMEs Helvi Yuni Moraza during a speech at the Dialogue Towards Intergenerational Welfare event at the Bappenas Ministry office in Jakarta on Monday (7/4/2026).

“On the financing aspect, to date only around 30.5% of MSMEs access bank credit,” she revealed.

According to her, this is one of the obstacles for MSMEs to level up, besides access to global partnerships, utilisation of technology, and suboptimal MSME standardisation.

Head of the OJK Department of Regulation and Licensing for Financial Sector Technology Innovation, Digital Financial Assets, and Crypto Assets, Djoko Kurnijanto, previously explained there are two reasons why MSMEs struggle to obtain bank financing.

First, they are hindered by the banking system regarding collateral or assets. The absence of assets makes banks reluctant to lend to MSMEs.

“We have so far still been collateral- or asset-based. That is something we cannot avoid. When applying for credit at a bank, the first question is what is the collateral? Meaning, currently lending is largely hindered by collateral based on assets,” he said, quoted on Tuesday (7/4/2026).

Second, MSMEs do not have a credit history that serves as information on loan eligibility for banks.

“So when someone does not have a credit history, does not have assets, but has other information, such as telephone usage, e-commerce, utility usage, ability to pay taxes, that can be linked to describe a person’s profile,” said Djoko.

“So when someone’s profile cannot be captured just because they do not have a credit history, it’s a pity, right? It’s a pity they don’t have a credit history, it’s a pity they don’t have assets, their financing access stops,” he added.

Based on Bank Indonesia (BI) data, MSME credit disbursement in February 2026 was worth Rp1,485 trillion, or a 0.6% year-on-year (yoy) correction. In detail, micro business credit was recorded at Rp659.5 trillion. Meanwhile, small and medium enterprise credit was recorded at Rp492.5 trillion, down 1.5% yoy, and Rp488.1 trillion, weakening 1% yoy.