With the wide gap in access to formal credit for MSMEs in South and East Asia, micro-businesses often borrow from unreliable sources at exorbitant rates. Based on our Corner Shop Diaries research, this blog explores how and why corner shops take loans and the sources from which they borrow.

In 2019, Bank Indonesia launched the Quick Response Indonesian Standard (QRIS) solution as part of its payment system vision for 2025 to encourage Indonesia’s 65 million MSMEs to adopt cashless payments. This blog explores challenges in the implementation of QRIS and offers recommendations to improve its uptake in Indonesia.

This study assesses the impact of COVID-19 on the demand for financial services through agents and agent operations. It seeks to understand the ability of cash-in cash-out (CICO) agents to support government assistance programs. The study further provides recommendations to support policy development and aid the recovery of CICO agents in Indonesia.

The Government of Indonesia (GoI) expanded its social protection programs, including Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH)—its conditional cash transfer program, to support the most vulnerable sections of society during the pandemic. Our report explores the impact of COVID-19 on the beneficiaries and operational implementation of PKH during the pandemic.

A community side story of quick response and gradual adaptation of the low and middle income segment to the global pandemic. This is the report that highlights the insights from MSC study to understand the economic and health impact of COVID-19 on LMI Indonesians.

Since the onset of the pandemic, large-scale social restrictions have had a direct impact on the economy and the livelihoods of more than 63 million MSMEs in Indonesia. This report is part two of a larger study on the impact of the pandemic on MSMEs in Indonesia.

Large-scale movement restrictions, falling consumer demand, and rising unemployment have taken a toll on CICO agents in Indonesia. Our report analyzes the impact of the pandemic on these agents, highlights their coping strategies, and provides recommendations to help them recover.

The COVID-19 crisis has proven devastating for MSMEs in Indonesia, which have seen their revenues reduce to almost half. Our report analyzes the economic consequences of the pandemic on MSMEs, highlights their coping strategies, and provides policy recommendations to help them recover.