LPS Calls Credit Distribution To The Capai Tourism Industry Rp128.2 Trillion

JAKARTA - The Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) stated that the distribution of bank credit to the tourism industry reached IDR 128.2 trillion as of September 2023.

Chairman of the LPS Board of Commissioners, Purbaya Yudhi Sadivewa, said that this achievement grew 4.57 percent year on year and was the highest since August 2021.

"The distribution of bank credit to the accommodation supply sector and the provision of food and beverage which is part of the tourism industry as of September 2023 reached IDR 128.2 trillion or grew 4.57 percent year on year, the highest since August 2021," Purbaya said quoting Antara.

Purbaya considered that the figure was still too small. The distribution of bank credit for Indonesian tourism should have reached more than IDR 500 trillion.

This is considering the huge potential of the tourism industry, ranging from the hotel sector, transportation, to the variety of tourist destinations. These businesses require financial support from banks in infrastructure development, service improvement, and improving the quality of tourism products as a whole.

"If we look at the total DPK (Third Party Fund) of around Rp. 8,000 trillion, if LDR (Loan to Deposit Ratio) is around Rp. 7,700 trillion, so Rp. 128 trillion is still too small," he said.

Meanwhile, based on data from the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the banking DPK was recorded at IDR 8,147 trillion with a deposit to deposit ratio of 83.92 percent.

Therefore, LPS encourages the banking industry to channel credit to industries related to the Indonesian tourism sector. Purbaya projects that in the future, lending to the tourism sector will grow higher considering the economic conditions that have recovered after the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, according to him, government policies still play a vital role in being able to develop Indonesian tourism.

"If you push it, it can be even faster (credit growth), depending on the focus of the government program, I think now (policy) is good, but I think it can be even faster," said Purbaya.

In his remarks, Purbaya also said that the tourism industry is one of the foreign exchange sources for Indonesia through service export activities.

Based on data from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf), the tourism industry will generate foreign exchange of US$ 6.72 billion in 2022.

The positive trend continues until 2023, where the industry has generated foreign exchange revenues of up to 6.08 billion US dollars in just the first half of 2023.