Banking Projected Big Cuan Harvest This Year

This year's banking performance will be influenced by several factors, including interest margins and higher quality lending.

This year's national banking sector is estimated to be able to gain net profit compared to 2021.

Citing money supply analysis data released by Bank Indonesia (BI), the average bank loan interest rate in April 2022 was 9.01 percent. Meanwhile, 3-month deposit interest was recorded at 2.99 percent. This means that there is a difference or spread in the range of 6.02 percent.

Senior Faculty of the Indonesian Banking Development Institute (LPPI) Amin Nurdin believes that the projected profit and performance of the national banking sector by the end of 2022 will be better than last year.

According to him, the difference in interest is indeed one of the benchmarks to increase profits. This interest difference is expected to last for quite a long time despite tapering and the potential for an increase in BI's benchmark interest rate.

“This will not necessarily make banks immediately raise or lower interest rates. So, it means that the profit will still be good," Amin said to The Newbie, Monday (6/6/2022).

He assessed that the improvement in banking performance will be influenced by several factors, among which credit distribution is considered to be of higher quality because banks have learned a lot from experience during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"In addition, digital support, increasing human resources during the pandemic, as well as increasing competence are increasingly facilitating the bank's business," he concluded.

For the record, the national banking sector posted a profit of Rp. 140.21 trillion last year, growing significantly or by 34 percent compared to 2020.

Bankers also predict that bank performance will be more smooth this year. Corporate Secretary of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. or BBRI Aestika Oryza Gunarto estimates that the company's profit achievement this year is better than 2021.

This confidence is reflected in BRI's net profit, which reached Rp 12.22 trillion or grew 78 percent year-on-year (yoy) in the first quarter of 2022. In addition, credit disbursement also continued to improve in line with increasing demand from corporate debtors.

"BRI is still optimistic that until the end of 2022 credit distribution will be able to grow 9-11 percent or according to the target set at the end of the year," he concluded.

Meanwhile, the President Director of PT Bank Pembangunan Daerah Jawa Barat and Banten Tbk. or BJBR Yuddy Renaldi is optimistic that the company's performance can be maintained in line with the growing trend of credit demand.

On an annual basis, the average BJB credit grew 9–9.5 percent as of April 2022. This affected net interest income which grew 14.1 percent. According to Yuddy, the effect of BJB's net interest income is due to a decrease in interest costs by more than 15 percent.

"It seems that this reduction in interest costs can still be continued for some time in the future, amid the issue of an increase in interest rates in the second semester of 2022," he said.