JAKARTA (Reuters) -The Indonesian government expects the $12 billion it has moved to state banks to spark an acceleration in plans to set up 80,000 village cooperatives across the country after a slow start to the flagship scheme, a minister said on Monday.
The “Red and White Cooperatives” are intended to drive growth and create jobs at a village level, as President Prabowo Subianto aims to lift economic growth to 8% from around 5% currently, a target he set during last year’s election campaign.
“The money is now available at state banks,” Zulkifli Hasan, a senior minister overseeing the cooperative programme, told reporters, noting a slow start since the plan’s launch in July.
“We ask for an acceleration in loan disbursement. It has been (some) months since the launch, don’t let the mo