Bank Rakyat Indonesia 2012 loans to grow 20%

The lender’s profit soared 58% to $771.2mn) in the first half.

PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, the world's biggest micro lender, forecasts full year loan growth in 2012 may reach 20 percent, CEO Sofyan Basir told reporters on Wednesday.

He declined to give a figure for third quarter loan growth.

The bank booked a net profit of 6.8 trillion rupiah ($771.2 million) in the first half, up 58 percent from the same period last year, according to a report in Reuters.

Indonesia's central bank expects loan growth to ease slightly to 23 to 24 percent in 2012 as the global economic slowdown weighs on domestic growth, Deputy Governor Halim Alamsyah said on Tuesday.