BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said on Monday that the central bank aimed to expand the use of QRIS to around 12 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) this year from 5.8 million last year. The move is expected to support the recovery of the coronavirus-battered economy.

“MSMEs’ digitalization will help them advance to the next level and become a greater support for our economy,” the governor said during the launch of the 2021 national movement of BanggaBuatanIndonesia (Proud of Indonesian-made Goods).

Aiming to universalize cashless payments in the country, BI launched the QRIS code system in 2019 to enable users from one payment service to transfer funds to any rival service within BI’s ecosystem.

Read also: Bank Indonesia launches national standard QR code

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic drove the Indonesian economy last year into its first recession since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.

MSMEs, which contribute around 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employ the majority of the labor force, have been particularly hit hard by the pandemic as the slowing economic activity has slashed their revenues.

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