Erick Thohir: BRI's Rights Issue Is Proof That The Indonesian Market Is Enthusiastic When Other Countries Experience Turbulence

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir said the corporate action carried out by PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk (BRI) through Pre-emptive Rights (HMETD) or rights issue was an achievement in itself.

The reason is, in the midst of the current pandemic situation, market participants tend to choose a wait and see attitude. For this reason, BRI's success in raising fresh funds of around IDR 96 trillion from the capital market is an achievement in itself.

"Today is special because it is not only a listing but also shows that when other markets are experiencing turbulence, we can make this market more excited," he said through a virtual channel when giving a speech at the opening bell of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), Wednesday, September 29.

According to Erick, the conditions that occurred at the same time gave a signal that Indonesia was able to survive and recover and continue to develop in a challenging situation.

"Of course, in this context, it proves that we have a very large market in Indonesia, so we believe that economic growth will continue," he said.

Furthermore, he revealed, not many countries have a market as aggressive and as good as Indonesia. Therefore, Erick as the government representative will continue to encourage the creation of a conducive business climate in the country.

"We certainly hope that public policyholders can always support the market. From this action, we can also understand that Indonesia is an expensive asset and is not only traded by many parties but must be able to support economic growth," he explained.

Erick added that the support for BRI is in line with the government's focus on paying more attention to people's economic actors. This is because the bank with the stock code BBRI has the main market share among MSMEs, which are one of the important sectors in the Indonesian economy.

"The message that is quite clear here is that MSMEs can certainly continue to grow because 60 percent of the Indonesian economy is supported by MSMEs," he said.

As previously reported, BRI is the parent of an ultra-micro holding involving PT Pegadaian and PT Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM).

Later, Pegadaian will be tasked with offering faster and more efficient financial services with lower interest rates.

Meanwhile, PNM will continue to focus on its business base group lending, through fostering the community to do business commercially or empowering people at the lower level. PNM is targeted to keep looking for as many people as possible who can be guided, taught, assisted to do business.

Then, if it is considered to have good prospects, the customer will be offered greater funding services through BRI. This ecosystem is trying to be explored and formed through the establishment of an ultra micro holding.

Meanwhile, the fresh funds raised from the largest rights issue in Southeast Asia will be used by the company to strengthen the capital structure and smooth out the ultra-micro holding agenda.