Indonesia’s co-operatives and SMEs minister Teten Masduki said the government’s Cooperatives Bill will offer long-term help for co-ops looking to build resilience.
Antara News reported Masduki’s speech in the capital Jakarta, where he set out proposals in the bill including the establishment of an Independent Supervisory Agency, especially to oversee the co-operative savings and loans sector.
Another element to the bill is a deposit insurance scheme to provide more security to customers of finance co-ops.
The government has been working with stakeholders as it develops the bil, a replacement for the 1992 co-op law, addressing issues such as capital, governance, diversification of business, and strengthening of the co-op ecosystem.
Masduki said he wanted to closer supervision of medium- and large-scale co-ops to improve their operations, and is proposing stronger criminal penalties to prevent abuses.
