Jakarta – The rollout of up too Rp. 3 billion in financing for Red and White Village/Subdistrict Cooperatives from state-owned banks is facing delays due to issues with business proposals, according to Minister of Cooperatives Ferry Juliantono. The financing initiative,intended to support cooperative ventures like grocery stores,pharmacies,clinics,and warehouses,has been slowed by regulatory adjustments.
A previous finance Ministry regulation, number 49, was cancelled and replaced with a new decree to guide state-owned banks (Himbara) in disbursing funds. Though, securing financing requires “bankable and feasible” proposals, a current stumbling block for many cooperatives.
“The amount is not too much as yesterday there was a Minister of Finance regulation which we had to cancel because of number 49. Yesterday there was a new minister of Finance Decree which will then become a guideline for Himbara to disburse. But for this process to be bankable and feasible, it must be accompanied by making a proposal,” Ferry stated at the Coordinating Ministry for Food, Jakarta, on Monday (October 27, 2025).
While hundreds of Red and White Village/Subdistrict Cooperatives have been established, the exact number receiving Himbara financing remains unclear. Ferry noted approximately one hundred cooperatives where initially modeled, with additional units emerging, but meaningful operational progress is pending.
“There are a lot of things like this, there are around a hundred of those that we made mock-ups of at that time.Then with several village cooperatives that are also running, there are additions, but they are not yet significant because we haven’t yet entered the operational stage. Only in October will we start to perfect the operational stage,” Ferry explained.
To address the proposal challenges, the government is deploying business assistants to support cooperatives. “One business assistant for 10 village cooperatives. That’s who we will assist to assist village cooperatives, make business proposals according to our ideal of being able to run grocery stores, pharmacies, clinics, warehouses, and so on,” Ferry said.
(ada/hns)
