BI disburses cheap credits

BI disburses cheap credits

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia pledged on Friday to speed up the
disbursement of liquidity credit for small-scale businesses and
cooperatives, a key central bank official said on Friday.

"Several requirements which have placed a burden both on the
banks and customers, including the legal lending limit
requirement and conditions pertaining to banks' health will be
reviewed," BI director Aulia Pohan said in a statement.

He was speaking in Bali at a gathering of the island's banking
community.

Aulia said the measures would be taken to help the country's
most vulnerable sector of the economy survive the crisis.

He did not give further details.

The central bank has doubled the size of cheap credit
available in this fiscal year to help small businesses and
cooperatives and to develop a food security program in the wake
of the country's worst economic crisis in three decades.

Intermediary banks, however, have often complained about the
various obstacles to channeling the cheap loans. (rei)