Hotel, Restaurant Owners Ask Lending Rates Subsidy

The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) asked the government to cut bank lending rates to 4 percent. PHRI Deputy Chairperson for Restaurants, Emil Arifin, said that the request is to support economic recovery in the tourism sector. "(We should be) given a low interest of 3 percent or 4 percent, for a minimum of five years. If the interest is still 10 percent, the company will definitely close and then go bankrupt, that's not fair," said Emil.

According to PHRI records, many hotels in various regions have been sold because they cannot pay loan installments. "If the government wants to enliven the G20 Summit, hotels and restaurants can survive if the interest rate is 4 percent. If the situation hasn't changed in December, everything will be closed and could not be revived easily," Emil said. PHRI's request is related to the appointment of Indonesia as the host of the 2022 G20 Summit in Bali.