TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi asked bankers to issue a new financial product in the form of education loan or student loan.
"I want to give homework [to banking industry] in the form of education loan or student loan," said Jokowi in a meeting with the chairmen of commercial banks at the State Palace, Jakarta, Thursday, March 15.
Jokowi admitted that Indonesian banks have no products on education loan. In fact, he said, the nominal outstanding or realization of education loan financing in the United States has exceeded the total outstanding of credit card loan. "I was surprised to read this," he said.
The president said the total credit card loan in the US reached $800 billion while the total of education loan reaches $1.3 trillion. According to Jokowi, if Indonesia has educational credit products, it can encourage consumptive behavior to productive things.
Therefore, Jokowi hopes that education loan will become a new financial product in the insurance and banking industries. "The potentials of such innovation should become our serious concern because if we do not take it or we do not innovate, someone else will take it, definitely," he said.
FRISKI RIANA
