PNM Mekaar loan rate cut to 8% starting September
About 14 million low-income women borrowers will face much lower financing costs than the previous 18% to 25% range.
The government has decided to cut interest on the PNM Mekaar lending program to 8% and is targeting implementation in early September 2026. Minister of MSMEs Maman Abdurrahman said the decision was made at a KUR steering committee meeting in Jakarta involving Kemenko Perekonomian, the Ministry of Finance and Danantara. For more than a decade, about 14 million Mekaar customers, mostly mothers and low-income women, have paid interest in the 18% to 25% range, with an average of about 20%. Maman said the reduction follows President Prabowo Subianto’s instruction that ultra-micro financing rates be kept below 10%. The government is preparing a subsidy formula so the lower rate can be rolled out quickly by PT Permodalan Nasional Madani.