To support the success of the Merah Putih Village Cooperative (KDMP) program, the government has instructed the State-Owned Banks Association (Himbara) to be involved in funding this cooperative program. Is this an opportunity to increase bank lending? Or does it potentially increase the risk of non-performing loans?

Deputy Minister of Cooperatives and Coordinator of the Daily Executive Chair of the KDMP Establishment Acceleration Task Force, Ferry Juliantono, explained that the initial financing for Kopdes will be channeled through a special People's Business Credit (KUR) with a ceiling of up to IDR 3 billion per cooperative.

The interest rate charged is 6%, with a tenor of 6 years for working capital and 10 years for investment. The government is also proposing a grace period of 6 months to provide room for cooperatives to adapt in the early stages of operation.

"The PMK (Minister of Finance Regulation) is currently being finalized at the Ministry of Finance. Then, we just completed the technical instructions for the operationalization of village pharmacies or village clinics. In the near future, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation regarding the distribution of 3 Kg LPG gas will also be issued soon," said Ferry in his press statement, July 15.

Regarding the financing scheme for this village cooperative, Ferry explained that this scheme will involve cooperation between three parties, namely the cooperative itself, the distributor/supplier, and the disbursing bank. Later, Kopdes will submit financing to Bank Himbara or BSI according to their needs. Then the bank will review the business feasibility to determine the amount of financing approved.

Furthermore, regarding the 103 pilot projects or mockups of the Merah Putih Kopdes/Kel, it has been confirmed that all are ready, both in terms of their business ecosystem and their financing scheme.

Himbara's Response

To that end, as part of Himbara, Bank Mandiri is actively involved in assisting cooperatives designated as KDKMP launch points spread throughout Indonesia. At these cooperatives, Bank Mandiri has also prepared digital financial services such as Mandiri Agen and QRIS, and ensured the readiness of service infrastructure physically.

"The digitalization of cooperatives cannot be separated from the readiness of facilities and systems. We are here to ensure that cooperatives have modern service channels as well as decent and professional business premises," said President Director of Bank Mandiri Darmawan Junaidi in Klaten, Central Java, Monday (21/7).

In supporting the launch of the Merah Putih Cooperative, Bank Mandiri has deployed teams from various business units to accelerate activation in the field. At a number of points such as KDKMP Malangjiwan in Karanganyar and KKMP Banyuanyar in Surakarta, for example, Bank Mandiri has completed the process of painting buildings, installing nameplates and branding, as well as installing gondola shelves and display cases as the main facilities of the cooperative.

In addition, strengthening the internet network is also carried out to support application-based digital financial services. This step was reinforced by holding cooperative management training and financial literacy which has been rolling out since the end of June 2025, involving thousands of cooperative administrators from various regions.

This hybrid training is part of efforts to accelerate the institutional readiness of cooperatives throughout Indonesia. Bank Mandiri is also directly involved in verifying and validating the readiness of established cooperatives, in collaboration with the KDMP Task Force, technical ministries, and local governments.

This synergy, continued Darmawan, ensures that all cooperatives involved have complete legality and operational readiness to carry out their functions as outlets for basic necessities, LPG, financial services, and logistics.

"We fully support the launch of the Merah Putih Village/Kelurahan Cooperative program as a government effort to strengthen the people-based economy, especially in the regions. Our role in this case is focused on assisting cooperatives to be operationally ready, especially in providing digital financial services and improving basic facilities," said Darmawan.

With a comprehensive approach that includes digitalization, training, and infrastructure improvements, Bank Mandiri hopes that the Merah Putih cooperative can become the backbone of sustainable village economic growth. This long-term commitment is in line with the government's goal to strengthen the people's economy through the development of professional and ecosystem-based institutions.

President Director of BRI Hery Gunardi said that the launch of KDMP by President Prabowo is an important moment in building a foundation for an inclusive and sustainable people's economy.

One of the real forms of BRI's commitment to providing convenience in accessing financial services for rural communities is through the presence of AgenBRILink which is integrated with cooperatives.

In the ecosystem that has been formed today, AgenBRILink is one of the strategic partners that plays an active role in supporting KDMP operations. It was recorded that as of the first half of 2025, as many as 1.22 million AgenBRILink had been spread across 67,000 villages throughout Indonesia.

This extensive network is the backbone of BRI's financial service distribution to the remote areas of the country. It is no surprise that AgenBRILink has now developed into a social commerce node that serves financial transactions and supports the economic activities and daily needs of rural communities in a sustainable manner.

As is known, KDMP carries a 7 in 1 Business Model integrated. In the future, this partnership will continue to be developed along with the expansion of collaboration with various State-Owned Enterprises.

Furthermore, to ensure the sustainability of KDMP, BRI as an agent of development and strategic partner of the government, is committed to presenting a comprehensive approach that includes two main aspects, namely business assistance and access to financial solutions through the One BRI Solution initiative.

First, in the aspect of business assistance, BRI places a Relationship Manager as a single point of contact for cooperatives, providing operational assistance to AgenBRILink, as well as providing thematic training and a digital platform for education to systematically increase the institutional capacity of cooperatives.

On the other hand, second, in the One Solution aspect, BRI provides access to business and investment financing, encourages cooperatives to become providers of formal financial services through AgenBRILink, and presents Qlola by BRI, an integrated financial management platform to support cooperative operational efficiency.

These two approaches have also been implemented in a number of KDMPs that are now active in several regions. Such as, in KDMP Hambalang (Bogor, West Java), KDMP Bumisari (South Lampung), KDMP Cileunyi Wetan, KDMP Cangkuang Wetan (Bandung, West Java), and KDMP Pangkah Wetan (Gresik, East Java).

As part of the national launch, 80,081 KDMPs have been simultaneously established and legally authorized to operate in their respective regions. These cooperatives utilize available village or sub-district assets, including those previously unused. In addition, the local economic potential of each village is optimized to strengthen the role of cooperatives as centers of community economic activity.

Funding risk

Chairman of the Association of Strategic Socio-Economic Cadres (Akses), Suroto, said that Himbara's involvement is actually risky. According to him, the state-owned bank will not bear the risk if bad credit occurs, but will be charged to the entire village community through deductions in Village Fund allocations.

The allocation of Village Funds as collateral for bad loans from state-owned banks not only signifies that government banks are unwilling to bear the losses of reckless government projects, but also signifies that these KDMPs are not given special allocations from the state budget.

"There is no special allocation from the state budget and there is no adequate fiscal commitment," he said on Saturday (26/7/2025).