Switzerland to provide $100m in loans

Switzerland to provide $100m in loans

The Swiss government signed on Monday a Memorandum of
Understanding with its Indonesian counterpart to facilitate
access to credit for small and medium enterprises in the country.

Swiss Minister of Economic Affairs Joseph Deiss told a press
conference that a credit line of up to US$100 million would be
channeled to five local banks.

The project dubbed Access to Finance for SMEs in Indonesia
would be a joint cooperation between Bank Indonesia, the World
Bank's financial arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
and non-governmental organization Swisscontact, the minister
said.

"The credit line will include a special incentive scheme for
lending to SMEs in the tsunami-affected region in northern
Sumatra," he said.

He further explained that the credit line was accompanied by a
technical package and incentive schemes to encourage the banks to
grant loans to SMEs in tsunami-stricken areas.

The technical assistance and incentive is valued at
approximately $8 million to $10 million.

Deiss explained that Swisscontact would be helping the SMEs to
qualify for getting the loans and on the other side the NGO would
assist local banks in managing this type of lending. -- JP