ASISINDO: Indonesia's Sharia Economic Portfolio Will Be Even Greater

Executive Director of the Association of Indonesian Sharia Banks (ASBISINDO) Herbidhi Setio Tomo. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Executive Director of the Association of Indonesian Sharia Banks (ASBISINDO) Herbidhi Setio Tomo said the Islamic economic portfolio in Indonesia would be large.

Although there are still 5 of the 12 Islamic banks in Indonesia that have not yet become participants in sharia commodity transactions, he stated that the rest of the financial institutions will be involved in the trade.

The need (5 Islamic banks that have not yet become participants in sharia commodity transactions) has not yet arrived (to become participants). One day it will arrive because the Islamic bank will increase in line with the real sector," he said on the Talk Show entitled Exploring the Dynamics of Sharia Commodities: Opportunities and Challenges in Indonesia in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, March 19.

This means that once the Third Party Funds (DPK) obtained are bigger by the 5 Islamic banks, then lending will increase to the real sector, then the portfolio will be sold to the derivative commodity futures exchange considering that the company needs liquidity. Therefore, he continued, slowly every Islamic bank will become a participant in the Indonesia Commodity & Derivative Exchange (ICDX).

According to him, most of the large amounts of funds obtained by certain Islamic banks, such as PT Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) Tbk, will definitely be allocated on the time exchange for derivative commodities.

For information, BSI managed to enter the top 10 Global Sharia Banks with a market capitalization of IDR 131.47 trillion. It's impossible that a lot of money was thrown to the government, it's impossible. There must be a portfolio of that he will throw it to the stock exchange," said Tomo.

Moreover, he continued, there is a plan to consolidate between banks, one of which is PT Bank Muamalat with the Sharia Business Unit (UUS) PT Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) Tbk which has a total estimated asset of IDR 120 trillion. With such a large asset value, it will have an impact on the expansion of financing products, one of which is liquidity products to the derivative commodity market.

"Imagine it will later be entered into exchange transactions, definitely (will enter the stock exchange), because banks cannot only attract lending financing. There must be more moving forward (by) making the money placed (in place) even better," he said.

To date, several financial institutions that have participated in sharia commodity transactions include PT BSI Tbk, PT Bank Jabar Banten Syariah, PT Bank Mega Syariah, PT CIMB Niaga Tbk through the Sharia Business Unit (UUS), PT Bank Maybank Indonesia through UUS, PT CIMB Niaga Auto Finance, and PT Bank Permata Syariah.

Then, there are four financial institutions that are still in the process of becoming participants in sharia commodity transactions in ICDX, namely PT Bank Nano Syariah, PT BCA Syariah, PT Bank Muamalat, and PT Bank Panin Dubai Syariah Tbk.