Merging Three State-Owned Sharia Banks Could Generate IDR390 Trillion Assets In 2025

Illustration. (Photo: Bank Syariah Mandiri)

JAKARTA - The Head of the Project Merger Officer Project Team, Hery Gunardi, said that the merger of a state-owned sharia bank would create a new force in the Indonesian banking sector, especially Islamic banking. It is expected that the merger of the three banks into one entity will have total assets of up to IDR 390 trillion by 2025.

Hery said, the merger of the three banks is targeted to be among the top 10 largest Islamic banks in the world. The plan is for this merger to be completed in February 2021.

Meanwhile, said Hery, the merged syariah bank of the three banks will occupy the 7th or 8th position of the 10 best banks in the country, with total assets in the first quarter of 2021 of around IDR 220 to IDR 225 trillion.

"The merger results, of course, this bank has an extensive network with coverage of 1,200 branches, the largest in all of Indonesia. In 2025, the projected hope is that the total assets of the joining Islamic banks can reach Rp390 trillion," he said in a virtual press conference Tuesday, October 13th.

Hery said, in addition to total assets, the joining of the three state-owned sharia banks will also be able to channel financing of IDR 272 trillion and funding of IDR 330 trillion.

"This is the government's effort and commitment to make the sharia economy a new pillar of national economic strength. In the long term, it will encourage Indonesia to become one of the centers of sharia economics and finance in the world," he said.

According to Hery, the merger of the three banks is also in line with the largest Muslim population in the world, where Indonesia has 13 percent of the population. This fact, said Hery, is an advantage for Indonesia.

"Of course, we have a position from the demand side to build a sharia economic business and also an international scale Islamic banking," he said.