Intensively Distribute Credit, BRI's SBN Is Increasingly Thin

Photo: Doc. BRI

JAKARTA PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk. (BRI) is said to have recorded an increase in lending in the first semester of 2023. This has an impact on the company's state securities ownership position (SBN) which decreased compared to the position at the end of 2022.

BRI Senior Executive Vice President Treasury & Global Service Achmad Royadi said that the decline in SBN ownership in banks was also seen from data released by the Ministry of Finance which showed a decrease of IDR 116.9 trillion as of July 17, 2023.

Achmad continued, although it decreased, the reprofiling of BRI's SBN portfolio was still carried out by taking into account market movements and projections for short-term liquidity needs.

"The purchase of SBN in the first semester of 2023 has decreased by 65.8 percent when compared to the same period in 2022. This is due to the focus of the company which continues to encourage lending this year," he said in a release today, Sunday, July 30.

According to Achmad, the placement of funds in SBN until the end of the year will continue to be carried out as part of the strategy to optimize the return of bank assets. However, the placement in SBN will continue to pay attention to the movement of liquidity and market needs.

Meanwhile, lending remains a priority for placing bank funds in 2023 which is projected to grow double digits in line with government projections.

"The placement in SBN is carried out on liquidity that has not been channeled to the credit sector by considering asset gap and liabilities," he said.

Achmad added that credit growth is targeted to reach around 10 percent to 12 percent this year. Of course, this is supported by Indonesia's macroeconomic condition which is still conducive and continues to grow.

"Nevertheless, to strengthen these improving conditions, BRI continues to implement a conservative strategy by allocating more than adequate reserves as one of the risk mitigation of future economic conditions that are still challenging," he concluded.