Minister for Cooperatives Requests Additional Rp1.34 Trillion to Support 80 Thousand Kopdes Merah Putih
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Minister of Cooperatives, Ferry Juliantono, has proposed an additional budget of Rp1.34 trillion for the 2027 fiscal year to support the operations and development of cooperatives, specifically to accelerate the 80,000 Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperative programme.
During a working meeting with Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Jakarta on Thursday, Ferry stated that the Ministry of Cooperatives has received an indicative budget ceiling for 2027 of Rp542.89 billion, based on the Joint Letter of Indicative Ceiling Number S228/MK.03/2026 and Number B385/D9.PP.04.03/05/2026 dated 7 May 2026.
“We are proposing an additional budget for 2027 of Rp1.34 trillion. Consequently, the total budget ceiling after this proposed addition will become Rp1.88 trillion,” said Ferry.
He expressed hope that Commission VI of the DPR would support the proposal, given the significant challenges and the vast scope of the programmes mandated to the Ministry of Cooperatives.
According to Ferry, the additional budget is required to support national priority work programmes for more than 80,000 Merah Putih Village Cooperatives that have already achieved legal entity status.
“We realise that the established indicative ceiling is not yet fully sufficient for the Ministry of Cooperatives’ needs in executing all programme mandates, particularly to support the accelerated operationalisation of 80,000 Merah Putih Village Cooperatives and the national development of cooperatives,” he said.
Ferry explained that the additional budget would be directed towards two major agendas: organisational operationalisation and the strengthening and development of cooperatives.
For organisational operationalisation, the additional budget will be used to strengthen planning, monitoring, and evaluation functions at both central and regional levels, human resource development, public communication and public relations, infrastructure strengthening, cooperative regulation, and internal supervision.
Furthermore, the government is also proposing a budget for the socialisation of the Merah Putih Village Cooperative programme.
Meanwhile, the Minister explained that the strengthening and development of cooperatives includes support for national priority programmes and Presidential directives, increasing the business capacity of cooperatives, strengthening cooperative institutions and governance, enhancing the competence and competitiveness of cooperative human resources, and improving cooperative supervisory functions.
Based on the breakdown, the Deputy for Cooperative Business Development proposed the largest budget increase, amounting to Rp277.4 billion. This budget will be used to facilitate business potential mapping, production assistance, strengthening cooperative partnerships, and the development of cluster-based business networks.
Next, the Deputy for Talent Development and Competitiveness proposed an additional Rp267.04 billion for the development of cooperative entrepreneurship, increasing the competence of functional cooperative supervisory officials, extension services, and strengthening cooperative capital and financing.
Additionally, the Deputy for Cooperative Institutions and Digitalisation proposed an additional Rp234.49 billion for cooperative legal entity services, assistance in cooperative restructuring, facilitating the digitalisation of Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperatives, and strengthening cooperative regulations.
Previously, the indicative budget ceiling for the Ministry of Cooperatives for 2027 was set at Rp542.89 billion, consisting of a pure rupiah budget of Rp316.85 billion and the Public Service Agency (BLU) of the Cooperative Revolving Fund Management Agency (LPDB) amounting to Rp226.04 billion.