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Over the past couple of weeks the topic of digital bank has had quite some attention in Indonesian media, especially those media that focus on the economy and business.
At its latest monetary policy meeting, completed on 18 February 2021, Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia) decided to cut its benchmark interest rate (the seven-day reverse repurchase rate) by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.50 percent, a historically low level for Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Also the deposit facility and lending facility rates were cut by 25 bps to 2.75 percent and 4.25 percent, respectively.
Rabobank Indonesia (short for PT Bank Rabobank International Indonesia) has announced that it is to phase out its operations in Indonesia starting per direct. The decision was made by the bank's shareholders. Fierce competition in Indonesia's banking industry, which particularly hurts the smaller banks, is believed to be the main reason behind the decision.
Despite challenging circumstances that trigger capital outflows from emerging markets – mostly related to the ongoing tariff war between the United States and China, monetary tightening in developed nations, US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable style of leadership, and rising crude oil prices in the first three quarters of the year (that cause pressure on net oil importers) – Indonesia ended 2018 in good financial health.
Despite Indonesia's better-than-expected 5.27 percent year-on-year (y/y) economic growth rate in the second quarter of 2018, there remain plenty of domestic and external uncertainties that make businesses hesitant to take up credit. This is evidenced by the rising ratio of the country's undisbursed loans.
Two banks, both state-controlled but listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, stand out in terms of assets. Both Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Mandiri control assets that exceed IDR 1,000 trillion (approx. USD $69 billion) per 30 June 2018.
Trade finance, a facility to finance export and import activities, remains attractive for the banking sector of Indonesia in 2018. In the first two months of 2018 trade finance surged 20 percent.
Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK), the government agency that regulates and supervises the country's financial services sector, may allow the plan of Japan-based Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) to acquire a 73.8 percent stake in Indonesian financial institution Bank Danamon Indonesia through subsidiary The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd (BTMU).
Local banks in Indonesia remain hesitant to disburse loans to companies that are engaged in Indonesia's mining sector due to the high degree of bad debt in this sector. Hence, credit disbursement to the country's mining sector continues to shrink. On the one hand, it is positive that Indonesia's banking sector becomes less dependent on the volatile movement of mining commodity prices.
Bank Rakyat Indonesia, one of the leading commercial banks in Indonesia and among the largest listed companies in terms of market capitalization on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, posted solid corporate earnings over full-year 2017. The financial institution's net profit and net interest income both climbed by double-digit figures.
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While the benchmark stock indices in the United States, China and Japan all showed steep declines in 2022, Indonesia’s benchmark stock index (IDX Composite or IHSG) managed to rise 4.09 percent to 6,850.62 points last year.
If everything goes according to plan, then the three Islamic finance units of state-controlled conventional banks Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) will merge into one entity early next year.
In July 2020, the five winners of the annual Investor Awards were revealed. Each year, business and investment magazine Investor analyzes the performances of all listed companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange and presents awards to the top five.
If you move to Indonesia for a longer period – either for work or just for living – you will most likely want (or need) to open a bank account at a local bank (or a foreign bank that has a branch in Indonesia). After all, if you continue to use a foreign bank account, then it will involve relatively high bank charges each time you withdraw money from the automated teller machine (ATM) in Indonesia, or when you conduct an international transaction (online banking).
At a special occasion at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged local banks to become more aggressive in terms of lending as credit disbursement in Indonesia's banking sector only reached IDR 4,782 trillion (approx. USD $349 billion) in 2017, hence growing by only a modest 8.3 percent year-on-year (y/y), thus unable to provide an optimal boost to domestic economic growth.
The Queen of the Netherlands, Maxima, visited Indonesia between 11-13 February 2018 to monitor the progress of Indonesia's Financial Inclusion Program, a program that was launched in August 2016 during Maxima's last visit to Indonesia. Hence, during her latest visit, the Dutch Queen came in her role as the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.
Since Friday (25/08) many Indonesians are having trouble to use ATMs (for withdrawing money and conducting various payments). Last week the Telkom-1 satellite started to suffer technical difficulties as a shift on the satellite's pointing antenna disrupted transponders. Considering most of Indonesia's major banks use this satellite, owned by Telekomunikasi Indonesia, for their telecommunication network, thousands of ATMs - hence millions of Indonesians - are affected.
Bank Mandiri, one of Indonesia's leading financial institutions, plans to conduct a stock split in order to enhance investor interest by making its stocks more affordable and liquid for retail investors. However, the state-controlled lender is still studying whether to opt for a 2-for-1 stock split or a 3-for-1 split. Bank Mandiri is one of Indonesia's blue chip stocks that ranks among the biggest 10 companies in terms of market capitalization on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio in Indonesia's mining and excavation sector has risen drastically over the past year. Moreover, there seems few room for an improvement of the NPL ratio in this sector on the short term because mining and excavation companies are expected to remain amid tough conditions in the remainder of the year. The NPL ratio is a key indicator for measuring bad loans.
Both Moody's Investors Service and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released positive reports on Indonesia's banking sector. While Moody's changed its outlook on Indonesia's banking sector from stable to positive, the IMF said Indonesia's banking system is strong enough to cope with relatively slow economic growth and a rise in bad loans.
