The government will not provide productive assistance for micro enterprises (BPUM) or cash assistance (BLT) for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in 2023, the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister announced on Monday.

“As of today, the government feels MSMEs have recovered enough, (and) survived so that the BPUM program is no longer needed,” Minister Teten Masduki said here.

Nevertheless, the government will remain alert and monitor the development in the future, he affirmed. He did not deny that if the economic condition declines, the government may make adjustments.

“Later, we will try to evaluate if the development is not really good like the previous years. The government can make adjustments to its programs and financing,” he informed.

Even though the global economic condition in 2023 is expected to be full of challenges, it can be an opportunity for MSMEs to meet the demand in the country, he said.

Moreover, MSMEs are considered to be more resilient and capable of adapting well, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government will strengthen easier access to financing for MSMEs, both through people’s business credit (KUR) and revolving funds for cooperatives, the minister said.

“We also help them to prepare their products to have higher quality, (and become) more competitive,” Masduki added.

The COVID-19 pandemic is considered to have driven a significant increase in the number of MSMEs that have transformed digitally by entering e-commerce.

At the beginning of the pandemic, only 8 million MSMEs were recorded to have been digitized. In 2022, their number rose to 20.76 million, and 30 million MSMEs are targeted to be digitized by 2024.

Source: Antara News