Loan demand boosts Bank Rakyat Indonesia profits

Credit it on rising loan demand.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia posted a 30 percent rise in profit in the first nine months this year from a year earlier.

Net income of the bank rose 30.4 percent to Rp 13.6 trillion or $1.5 billion in the January to September period this year from Rp 10.4 trillion in the same period last year. Its net interest income rose 2 percent to Rp 26.7 trillion in the period this year from Rp 26.2 trillion last year.

Other Indonesian lenders such as Bank Mandiri, Bank Central Asia and Bank Negara Indonesia have also benefitted from rising loan demand amid low borrowing costs in Indonesia.

Bank Indonesia, the central bank, has kept its benchmark rate at a record low of 5.75 percent in the past eight months to spur economic growth.

Rising lending in Indonesia has lifted total outstanding loans at BRI to Rp 320 trillion as of the end of September from Rp 285.4 trillion last year.

Loans to small and medium companies and micro-loans account for about 80 percent of BRI’s portfolio, with the balance consisting of corporate loans.

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