PERTAMINA ALLOCATES RP25 BILLION FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Semarang, Mar 15 (ANTARA) - The Central Java - Yogyakarta retail region of state oil and gas company PT Pertamina is allocating Rp 25 billion under the partnership and environmental development program (PKBL) for micro, small and medium business enterprises this year.

"Some Rp 3 billion of the funds had already been disbursed," PKBL coordinator of PT Pertamina HM Yacoeb said in Semarang Monday.

The requirement for the soft loan is running a business enterprise for at least one year, and having an asset of at least Rp200 million, a sales turnover of less than Rp1 billion a year, not necessarily having a business license, but a business license from one's village head. All these requirements need to be met for evaluation.

Yacoeb also said that the distribution of the soft loans carrying an interest of 6 percent per year covering a period of 3 years, had been quite successful, which is apparent from the 7,000 partnerships which had been developed since 1993, and 20 of the members had even been taken part in overseas exhibitions.

PT Pertamina is also giving training and management and business practice for those who have secured a loan from the government.

"Their lines of business are generally in agriculture, practical business, and trade. For agriculture, the installments are divided into six times depending on one's farm produce," he said.

Past experience indicated that with an allocated budget of Rp28 billion, the non-performing loans (NPL) did not reach 10 percent.