Indonesia gears to set up mega-lender to oversee 40% of banking assets

The four state banks will be put under the holding company, PT Danareska.

Reuters reports that Indonesia is finalising a plan to put four state banks under a holding company by May in its bid to create a regional lending powerhouse. 

Also read: Indonesia moves forward with plan to standardise QR code payments

The government is setting up a financial holding company called PT Danareska where Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia and Bank Tabungan Negara will be put under alongside state pawnshop PT Pegadaian and state small business financing firm PT Permodalan Nasional Madani, according to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno.

The holding company, which is expected to oversee 40% of the country’s banking assets, will lend support to the government’s development agenda by encouraging infrastructure projects and lending for homes.

Also read: Indonesia urged to cut bank network to 70 lenders

Danareska will also help in distributing capital amongst lenders, either from dividend payments or fund raising, Gahot Trihargo, deputy minister of State Owned Enterprises said.

“It’s positive and would especially streamline their decision making process and give them better capabilities in terms in raising capital,” Franky Rivan, an analyst at Kresna Securities said.

Since 2017, the state-owned lenders have consolidated their ATM and EDC operations under one company called PT Jalin Pembayaran Nusantara.

Photo from Chongkian - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0