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Jokowi calls on ministers to make public more 'bankable'
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo speaks to journalists in a press conference at the State Palace in Jakarta, recently. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has instructed his ministers to help people gain wider access to capital this year so that the public becomes more "bankable".
"I also ask for wider access to capital for the people. Micro-credit should reach more people and should also be easier to obtain. Access to insurance should also be increased," he said during the opening of a Cabinet meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java.
"This way, we can encourage more financial inclusion and make our people more bankable."
(Read also: Jokowi coaxes start-ups to help make SMEs bankable)
Only around 36 percent of Indonesia's 250 million people have bank accounts. The government hopes to increase this to 75 percent by 2019.
The government recently introduced a program dubbed the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (SNKI), which includes six main pillars: financial education, public financing facilities, financial information mapping, supportive regulations, distribution networks and intermediation facilities and consumer protection.
If the program is successful, the government hopes it will help it channel money from its social assistance programs to the public more effectively.
In addition to increasing financial inclusion, Jokowi also emphasized the importance of vocational training and education. "We need to increase the people's access to vocational training and education," he said. (bbn)
