Govt to Establish Wakaf Bank
President Jokowi before leading a limited cabinet meeting on the plan to establish Bank Wakaf, at Presidential Office, Jakarta, Wednesday (25/1) (Photo by: Public Relations Division/Jay)
The Government continues to take measures to reduce social gap as an effort to promote equal development in all regions all across the country, President Joko Jokowi Widodo said during a limited cabinet meeting on the Plan to Establish Wakaf Bank at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Wednesday (25/1).
I have repeatedly stressed the importance of asset re-distribution, widening access to capital, improving skills, as well as changing of methods in tackling poverty and reducing social gap, the President said.
In the meantime, to widen access to capital, the President added, the Government, along with the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and central bank Bank Indonesia (BI) will continue to take measures to reduce gap in access to gain capital, especially to reach micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that so far have not really been served by bank credits.
According to the President, one of the measures to be made is the development of sharia financial institutions managed based on the wakaf (endowments) system. The President pointed out that potentials of wakaf di Indonesia is huge, be it immovable wakaf or movable wakaf, including wakaf in the form of money.
So far, money wakaf collected through the LKSWU, a sharia financial institution in charge of receiving money wakaf, appointed by Minister of Religious Affairs. The result is, we see that the result has not given maximum results yet so it needs a further study. It is because money wakaf is not really popular yet compared to wakaf in the form of land, or because there is no sharia financial institutions that specially handle this money wakaf, the President said.
Regarding that matter, President Jokowi asked for views from the OJK, BI, and the Ministers about the idea to develop a sharia financial institution based on the wakaf system. He added that the main purpose of the establishment of this institution is to empower economy of the people and is also expected to give significant impacts to the effort to boost national economy, especially in MSMEs.
The establishment of this wakaf-based sharia financial institution, the President affirmed, is also very important for the Government to tackle problems faced by the people and the nation, especially those related to poverty, unemployment, social gap, and equality in economic opportunities.
Also attending the meeting were Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Darmin Nasution, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Minister of Manpower Hanif Dhakiri, Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono, Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of State-owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Governor of Bank Indonesia Agus Martowardojo, Chairman of OJK Muliaman Hadad, Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna H. Laoly, Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning Sofyan Djalil, and Chief of the Creative Economy Agency Triawan Munaf. (SM/FID/JAY) (EP/YM/Naster)
