Himbara's Contribution to the Execution of State Policies is Enough, Only a Problem of Administration

State-owned bank (Photo: VOI)

Himbara's Contribution to the Execution of State Policies is Enough, Only a Problem of Administration

JAKARTA - President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) Prabowo Subianto has discussed reforming the directors of banks at the National Bank Association (Himbara). The reason is that the change in state-owned banks is already very efficient in handling government programs.

Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) Bhima Yudhistira said that the contribution of state-owned banks in the implementation of state policies has been very good. Moreover, there is already a people's business credit (KUR) program.

"KUR ceiling has also been increased, the interest is also relatively low at 6 percent," he said in a message to VOI, Tuesday, February 3.

On the side of credit distribution, the bank continues to pay attention to the profile of prospective debtors. State-owned banks also do not carelessly provide credit due to macroeconomic risks.

"The problem is currently on the administrative aspect," he said.

According to him, the speed of approval and disbursement of credit still needs to be encouraged. So, it does not mean that there must be intervention in the change of directors.

"Don't interfere with the replacement of the board of directors so that the program can run," he said.

In addition, the deposit of Himbara bank dividends also jumped when looking at the 2024 fiscal year. The dividend distribution is as follows:

- PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BBRI)

BBRI's deposit to the state also jumped. The state as the main shareholder of BBRI has a stake of 53.19 percent. In the 2023 fiscal year, BBRI's dividend deposit to the state reached IDR 25.71 trillion. The amount of deposit to the state will increase in the 2024 fiscal year or in the Danantara era, reaching IDR 27.52 trillion.

- PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk (BMRI)

The deposit of BMRI dividends to the state is also thick. In the 2023 fiscal year, the state as the controlling shareholder of Bank Mandiri with a 52 percent share received dividends of IDR 17.17 trillion. Then in the 2024 fiscal year or in the Danantara era, the state received a deposit of dividends from BMRI of IDR 22.62 trillion.

- PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BBNI)

The deposit to the state is also thicker than BBNI, where in the 2023 fiscal year, the state received a dividend of IDR 6.27 trillion for its 60% stake in BBNI. Now, it will distribute a dividend to the state of IDR 8.37 trillion.

- PT Bank Tabungan Negara (Persero) Tbk (BBTN)

As a result, the country which has a 60 percent stake in BBTN also received a thicker dividend deposit. In the 2023 fiscal year, BBTN distributed dividends of IDR 420.11 billion to the state. Now, BBTN is distributing dividends of IDR 451.09 billion to the state in the Danantara era.

If accumulated, the total distribution of Himbara dividends disbursed to the country reaches IDR 58.96 trillion in the 2024 fiscal year. The value of the distribution of Himbara dividends to the country increased by 18.94 percent year on year (yoy) or compared to the distribution of Himbara dividends to the country of IDR 49.57 trillion in the 2023 fiscal year.

Meanwhile, economist Piter Abdullah said the Himbara bank's board of directors is a board whose orientation is profit. They have a mandate to manage public funds, not to execute government policies.

"Even if the Himbara Bank has public obligation tasks, it is only an additional task, not the main task," he said.

He also estimated that if there was a change of directors, it could not be carried out in the near future. Moreover, Danantara, who has the authority, has spoken out about the change.

Previously, President Prabowo Subianto would replace the Bank Himbara board of directors, which was considered to be detrimental to the country. This was said by Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.

According to Sjafrie, so far many state banks and other state-owned enterprises (BUMN) are considered to have less profit for the country.

This, continued Sjafrie, could happen because many company directors do not work to the maximum, even tend to benefit themselves.