Indonesia posts 10.38% bank loan growth in first half this year

A senior official at Indonesia's financial service supervisory agency said on Thursday that total loans channeled by banks operating in the country stood at 3,828 trillion rupiah (about 273.1 billion U.S. Dollars) in the first half this year, or 10.38 pct higher than it was in the corresponding period last year.

The public's money deposited in the banks was also increased by 12.65 percent to 4,319 trillion rupiah (about 308 billion U.S. Dollar) in the same respect.

"Learning from the loan growth development in the first half this year, I estimated that loan growth may reach 11 to 12 percent by the end of the year," Bank Supervisory Board Deputy Commissioner at the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Irwan Lubis said here.

He added that banks' total assets were also increased by 11.11 percent to 5,993 trillion rupiah (about 427 billion U.S. Dollars) as of the first half this year.

Besides that, the banks also recorded excellent capital adequacy ratio at 20.35 percent with core capital ratio stood at 17.78 percent.

Irwan added that banks in the country will see more loan demands in the second semester due the expansion of government's budget spending, which he said may reach 98 percent of the budget allocation, and the regional administrator election that would be simultaneously conducted in early December this year.