Perbanas Shares Banking Strategies to Face Global Economic Uncertainty

Rupiah (Photo: between)

JAKARTA - Chairman of Perbanas and President Director of BRI Hery Gunardi revealed a number of anticipatory strategies to maintain the stability of the financial sector and the sustainability of future growth.

In his presentation, Hery Gunardi explained that the fundamentals of the national banking industry until early 2026 are still at a solid level.

"This is reflected in the growth of credit as of January 2026 which reached 9.96 percent on an annual basis (yoy), an increase compared to the position in 2025 which was in the range of 9.63 percent yoy," he said, quoted Monday, March 9.

At the same time, he continued, the Third Party Fund (DPK) grew by 13.48 percent year-on-year. The ratio of non-performing loans (NPL) is also maintained at around 2.14 percent.

Meanwhile, the capital strength of the banking industry remains strong with a Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of around 25.87 percent.

"Several profitability indicators are facing moderate pressure as operating costs increase. Nevertheless, banks still need to be vigilant. Although the outlook for the banking industry in general is still quite good, we must remain anticipatory of various potential risks going forward," continued Hery.

According to him, prolonged global geopolitical tensions have the potential to drive energy and food prices, suppress people's purchasing power, and slow down economic activity. At the same time, economic uncertainty also puts pressure on business sector performance, potentially increasing the risk of NPL, which ultimately requires banks to be more selective in credit distribution and strengthen risk management and asset quality.

For this reason, Hery said that the banking industry needs to strengthen various risk mitigation measures to maintain the stability of the financial sector. Several specific mitigation protocols must be prepared by banks.

First, strengthening risk management by conducting sectoral stress tests on portfolios in the transportation, logistics, and manufacturing sectors that are highly dependent on fuel, implementing an early warning system for potential deterioration of NPLs, and tightening credit discipline and risk-based pricing.

Second, banks need to ensure adequate liquidity availability to face potential volatility in cash flows by strengthening the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR). There is no other choice, banks must have sufficient cash flow cushions.

Third, Indonesian banks must manage foreign exchange and liquidity risks by keeping net foreign exchange positions (PDN) conservative, strengthening hedging strategies for foreign exchange exposure, and managing foreign exchange maturity mismatches.

According to Hery, this step is important to ensure the availability of foreign exchange liquidity for strategic sectors, including exporters and importers, to maintain the smooth running of national trade activities.

In line with Hery Gunardi, Deputy Commissioner for Regulation, Licensing and Quality Control of the OJK, Deden Firman Hendarsyah said that the condition of the national banking industry was still quite resilient, especially in terms of capital indicators. The banking industry has a strong capital cushion to face global dynamics.

"Likewise, in terms of liquidity, the condition is still ample and all key indicators are above the minimum threshold set by the regulator," concluded Deden.