The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs is stepping up efforts to update the data on problematic People’s Business Credit (KUR) accounts in the Merapi area. This initiative is intended to complement the data previously collected by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs—which had estimated the losses from the disaster to be around Rp60 billion—and not to entirely re-do the data collection.
Deputy of the Ministry for Business Restructuring, Chairul Djamhari, explained that the ministry’s data-gathering exercise is meant to fill in gaps from the earlier data provided by the Coordinating Minister. "So it’s not a complete re-data, but rather a complementary update, because we have already collected data from various sources such as local banks," he said. To expedite the process, the ministry has tasked its Deputy for Study to speed up data collection in the districts surrounding the Merapi area. The resulting data will then serve as the basis for policy decisions going forward.
Earlier, the Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs, Syarif Hasan, visited the Glagaharjo hamlet in Cangkringan, Yogyakarta—a community devastated by the Merapi eruption. In that village, the Ternak Saran Makmur Cooperative suffered severe losses, with more than 1,200 dairy cows belonging to its members perishing as a result of the pyroclastic flow. "I have seen a livestock cooperative with 1,500 dairy cows where 1,200 of them died. We will rebuild the damaged infrastructure, restore the cooperative’s facilities, provide livestock assistance, and inject new capital via KUR so that the cooperative can get back on its feet," Syarif Hasan stated.
In a separate account, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa mentioned that the potential losses from KUR due to the Merapi disaster have reached Rp60.062 billion. According to him, the government is prepared to cover 70% of these losses, provided that the loans fall into a collectibility rating of 3-4. Hatta provided a breakdown of the losses by institution:
- BRI: Rp37.776 billion
- PT Bank Syariah Mandiri: Rp16.165 billion
- PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk: Rp2.996 billion
- PT Bank Mandiri Tbk: Rp1.650 billion
- PT Bank Bukopin Tbk: Rp750 million
- BPD Yogyakarta: Rp605 million
- PT Bank Tabungan Negara Tbk: Rp120 million
The ongoing efforts to update and verify the data are expected to guide the formulation of further policies aimed at mitigating the financial impact of the disaster on affected KUR debtors.
(source: rakyatmerdeka.co.id)