Social and Economic Background of Indonesia

 

Country: Indonesia

Social and Economic Background of Indonesia

According to the World Bank, in 2003, Indonesia had a population of 214.7 million people, 65% of whom were between the ages of 15 and 64. In 2002, 8% of Indonesia’s population lived on under $1 USD per day and 52% lived on under $2 USD per day based on the World Bank World Development Indicators. Indonesia’s per capita GDP adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity grew from $3,420 in 2003 to $3,622 in 2004, according to the IMF.  Indonesia had an unemployment rate of 9.1% in 2002, according to the International Labor Organization. From 2003 to 2004, the remittances Indonesia received amounted to $1.48 billion current USD according to the World Bank. According to the ADB, the GINI coefficient for Indonesia in 2002 was 0.343. The World Bank and OECD estimate that Indonesia’s M2/GDP ratio was 51.4% in 2003. Indonesia had received $1.743 billion foreign aid and development assistance in current USD according to the IMF and OECD in 2003. The World Bank reports that the net inflow of Foreign Direct Investment was -$597 million in 2003. The World Bank also reports that the informal economy in Indonesia accounted for 19.4% of GNI in 2003.

The currency of Indonesia is the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR). The average exchange rate was IDR9,311.2:US$1 in 2002, IDR8,577.1:US$1 in 2003 and IDR8,938.9:US$1 in 2004, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Indonesia has not planned to participate in the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) of the World Bank and IMF.

Doing Business in Indonesia

The World Bank uses several indicators to assess the business environment of a country. In Indonesia, entrepreneurs are required to go through 12 steps to launch a business, at a cost of 130.7% of GNI per capita in 2004. Registering property requires 6 steps. It costs 2.5% of GNI per capita to create collaterals. Indonesia scores 4 on a scale from 0 to 7 on the Disclosure Index.

According to the World Bank, in Indonesia, credit information is collected and made available by the Debtor Information System established in 1988 and supervised by the Bank of Indonesia. In terms of the World Bank’s Credit Information Index rating, Indonesia scores 3 on a scale from 0 to 6. 

 

Regulatory and Legal Environment of Indonesia

According to the World Bank, it takes 34 procedures and 570 days from the time a plaintiff files a lawsuit to when the individual is actually compensated. The cost of enforcing contracts in terms of legal and court fees is 126.5% of debt value. Filing bankruptcy takes about 6 years with a cost of 18% of estate value. The recovery rate for creditors in Indonesia is $0.106 per USD. 

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) reports that rural funds and credit institutions (LDKPs) in Indonesia have, by law, been rendered obsolete by rural banks (BPRs).  One of the major ongoing policy changes that would affect microfinance institutions is the mandated spin-off of the Bank of Indonesia’s supervisory function into a separate, independent institution in 2002. The new institution regulates all of Indonesia’s microfinance service providers except for credit cooperatives, which are regulated by the Department of Cooperatives. This restructuring has been delayed by political issues. There is a draft MFI law that is now being processed at the Ministry of Finance that will then be reviewed by Parliament.

Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and Commercial Banks’ Involvement in Indonesia

According to CGAP, Indonesia has a diverse financial sector that includes state-owned banks, banks owned by local governments, privately owned banks, joint venture banks, cooperatives, and wholly-owned foreign banks.  The three major players in the microfinance industry are the state-owned BRIs, the small financial institutions known as BPRs, and the state-owned pawning company, Perum Pegadaian. BRI, the largest microfinance provider in Indonesia, is the world’s largest commercially based microfinance institution. The BRI unit system has been profitable since 1986 and has operated independent of subsidy since 1987. It serves approximately 3 million borrowers and has over 27 million savings accounts. BPRs also play a large role in the formal microfinance sector. They account for 15% of the microfinance market and serve over 4 million clients. The third significant player in the formal microfinance market is the pawn company Perum Pegadaian. It serves over 10 million clients, although its loan and deposit sizes are much smaller than BRI units and BPRs.

According to a joint report from CGAP and the Bank of Indonesia, there are 131 commercial banks serving 14,258,000 clients in Indonesia. Commercial banks are not directly involved in microcredit service, however they help finance and offer technical assistance to BPRs.

According to the World Council of Credit Unions, there are 1,039 credit unions serving 378,115 members in Indonesia. The penetration rate is 0.25%. Total savings in credit unions are $64 million USD and loans are $68 million USD. Credit unions hold reserves of $3.7 million USD. Their assets total $89 million USD. Services provided by credit unions are limited, as they may not accept deposits from the general public.

According to an ADB report, NGOs play a relatively minor role in the microfinance industry and have mostly been involved in providing training and other social services rather than financial intermediation. This is due to laws that forbid NGOs from being involved in income-generating or profitable activities.

The ADB report states that several key industry support institutions have assisted in the commercialization of a wide variety of MFIs in Indonesia. These include GEMA PKM, the most inclusive national microfinance network; bankers associations, such as Perbarindo; and BK3I, the national apex organization for cooperatives. The Indonesian Movement for Microfinance Development (GEMA PKM) was founded in 2000. It includes representatives of the government, NGOs, financial institutions, the business sector, universities, and research institutes. The State Minister for the Empowerment of Women and Head of the National Family Planning Coordination Board heads the organization, while leading NGOs, such as BinaSwadaya, appear to be the driving force. The network is an active partner in the drafting of a Microfinance Act and is committed to promoting awareness and adoption of best practices in microfinance as a tool for poverty reduction and economic growth. Bankers associations, such as the Perbarindo network of BPRs, have been providing training on microfinance for years and are now developing capacity-building tools in coordination with the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Bank Indonesia (BI) in order to strengthen BPR performance and increase access to market sources of funds. The mission of BK3I as the national apex organization for the cooperative movement and its regional chapters is to strengthen the development of autonomous and self-reliant cooperatives.

National Committee Activities of Indonesia

Indonesia’s National Committee is composed of members from the government, private, and academic sectors. The government sector is represented by the Ministry for Economic Affairs; the private sector by Bank Mandiri,  UNOCAL, the PRSP/MDG radio talk-show, and Bank Rakyat Indonesia; the academic sector is represented by University of Padjadjaran.

The activities of the National Committee include research to better understand and promote the microfinance sector and long-term commitment building activities. The National Committee plans to map out issues and constraints relating to poverty alleviation; identify and evaluate policies that are imposed on small businesses and MFIs; and conduct coordination meetings between concerned businesses and institutions. Further, Indonesia plans to publicize programs and activities in which microfinance is espoused in a sustainable, market oriented way; use the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards to encourage microfinance activities; and encourage the sharing of expertise, success stories, and lessons-learned in microfinance. To promote the microfinance sector, the National Committee supports the establishment of a forum for bank and non-bank financial institutions and supports the appointment of a Network Advisor. There are also plans to host several national gatherings and dialogues in many parts of the country.  The Committee is engaging in the restructuring of the financial policy sector with the purpose of eliminating distortions taking place in the microfinance market, simplifying regulations for a microcredit distribution system, and accelerating the passage of a Credit Collateral Law. Also, the Committee has realized the need for an effective mechanism to channel ‘idle funds’ currently being reserved in several major government owned financial institutions such as Bank Indonesia, to micro businesses and to facilitate the establishment of ‘APEX Bank’.  The National Committee also plans to contribute to the UN Blue Book on Microcredit

Indonesia is one of the participants in the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards in 2005.

Bibliography

Asian Development Bank

            Key Indicators 2004: Poverty in Asia: Measurement, Estimates, and Prospects, Pub. Date: 2004, accessed on May 28, 2005,

            Ismah Afwan and Stephanie Charitonenko, Commercialization of Microfinance – Indonesia, November 2003, accessed on June 8, 2005,

           

Bank of Indonesia

            Statistic Data, accessed on June 8, 2005

           

Consultative Group to Assist the Poor

            Country Profile for Indonesia, Last Updated : January 2004, May 28, 2005,

            < Country Profile for Indonesia >

International Monetary Fund

            World Economic Outlook Database, April 2005, May 28, 2005,

             

           

            “Indonesia”, accessed on May 27, 2005

           

Ismawan, Bambang and Setyo Budiantoro

            Mapping Microfinance in Indonesia, March 2005, May 28, 2005,

             

World Bank

            Doing Business Database, September 2004, May 28, 2005,

             

            Global Development Finance 2004, 2004, May 28, 2005,

           

            World Development Indicators database, Released on April 17, 2005, May 28, 2005,

             < http://devdata.worldbank.org/dataonline/