In the midst of a turbulent and uncertain economy, the BI-Rate cut is a breath of fresh air for the business world.

This is the third cut in the benchmark interest rate so far this year, followed by a reduction in lending facility rates. The trade business is still the sector that receives the most credit disbursements.

As of March 2025, Bank Indonesia data shows that total loans disbursed by commercial banks and BPRs reached Rp 7,818,235 billion. Loans allocated to productive business sectors (business fields) also continued to show an increase, reaching IDR 5,581,160 billion or 71% of total loans.

The business field that received the most credit disbursements until March 2025 was trade, namely 1,206.9 trillion or 21.6 percent of total credit by business field. Nominally, credit to the trade sector grew by an average of 3.5% per year (during the 2019-2024 period). However, its share tends to decline from 25% (2019) to 21.7% (2024).

The largest portion of credit flowing to trade businesses cannot be separated from the structure of our economy which is supported by this sector, which is around 13% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This means that 13 percent of the total GDP is contributed by the trade business.

This share is the second largest after the manufacturing sector, which contributes 19% to GDP. While credit disbursed to the manufacturing sector is 21%, it is less than that disbursed to the trade sector.

The reduction in the benchmark interest rate is expected to drive business through lending. Not only credit for trade and processing industries, but also to agricultural businesses (the third largest portion of lending) that absorb a lot of labor.