BNI Affirms Financing To The Energy Sector Is In Accordance With The Implementation Of RAC

JAKARTA - Finance Director of PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BNI) Novita Widya Anggraini said that the financing channeled to the energy sector, including fossil energy, was in accordance with the implementation of the risk acceptance crime (RAC) set by the company.

"We have a risk management strategy in each distribution (financing), whether it is included in the energy sector or outside it. We already have the risk acceptance criteria. So in the context of distribution, we certainly refer to the RAC that we have set up," said Novita at the CNBC Forum CFO in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, June 12.

Novita said BNI included climate risk as one of the risks monitored by special criteria.

For example, for the palm oil industry, BNI requires debtors to have certain certifications such as Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

"We will enter certain sectors, energy sectors, if they already have certain criteria. Does the licensing not interfere with the ecosystem and so on. That is of course what we have stated in the RAC," he said.

According to Novita, the company also maintains the composition of the financing portfolio, especially green financing. BNI, he added, set a target of 10 percent of its total portfolio as a category of environmentally friendly business activities. Novita said that currently the target has been achieved.

"This means that 10 percent of BNI's portfolio, this is a portfolio that does support environmentally friendly business activities. This is divided into various portfolios, such as renewable energy, then we enter environmentally friendly buildings, then energy efficiency," he said.

On the other hand, continued Novita, BNI has issued a green bond of IDR 5 trillion in 2022 to support financing sustainable economic projects. He ensured that the proceeds from the issuance of green bonds were channeled to environmentally friendly sectors.

Then, BNI also has a sustainability linked loan (SLL) in the form of providing incentives for customers to improve ESG aspects in its business. Novita said that SLL was successfully distributed to several poultry and agricultural food industries, the cement industry, and the iron industry.

"In BNI's long-term corporate plan, one of the enablers that we set-up, especially for those with ESG related, we will grow aggressively at the sustainability linked loan. This is a key strategy and we will maintain its sustainability, not only this year but also to be sustainable until the long term, 5 years or 10 years to come," he said.

To show the company's seriousness in ESG, Novita said that structurally the BNI organization also already has a special unit that focuses on financing the renewable energy sector. Related to this, BNI is committed to training human resources (HR) to better understand and have ESG certification.