Minister Ara Optimistic KUR Housing Programme Can Combat Loan Sharks

The Minister of Housing and Residential Areas (PKP), Maruarability Sirait, also known as Ara, has emphasised that one of the primary objectives of the Housing Credit Programme (KPP) or Housing People’s Business Credit (KUR) is to suppress the practices of loan sharks that frequently entrap the public and MSMEs across the country.

Given that the Housing KUR programme provides an interest subsidy of 5 per cent, with financing ceilings of up to Rp 5 billion—and can be rotated up to Rp 20 billion for MSMEs and construction business actors—he believes this goal is achievable. Furthermore, the Housing KUR programme can also enable MSMEs to purchase, build, or renovate houses used for business activities, with an interest rate of 6 per cent and a financing ceiling of up to Rp 500 million.

“Therefore, with this Housing KUR programme, there should no longer be an opportunity for loan sharks to exist in Indonesia,” said Ara during an event regarding the refinement of the Financial Information Service System (SLIK) at the Bank Indonesia (BI) Building, Jakarta, on Monday, 6 July 2026.

He expressed confidence that through collaboration between the government and various stakeholders in the country, the issue of loan sharks can be resolved effectively. Consequently, Ara is encouraging the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to implement policies that assist the public in avoiding exploitative loans from these predatory lenders.

“For a nation this large, with so many intelligent people and so much authority granted, if we cannot defeat loan sharks after decades, it is a shame,” he remarked.

Previously, the Chair of the OJK Board of Commissioners, Frederica Widyasari Dewi, also known as Kiki, emphasised that as of 1 July 2026, financial service institutions are required to immediately update data for settled credits in the Financial Information Service System (SLIK) within a maximum of three working days. This follows previous instances where updating settled credit data in SLIK often took between one to one and a half months. “Reporting settled credit data to SLIK must be done no later than three working days,” said Kiki.

She explained that, in addition to supporting MSMEs and the 3-million-house programme, this step is being taken by the OJK to respond to the growing number of complaints regarding the slow updating of credit settlement data.