JAKARTA. Publicly listed PT Bank Jabar Banten Tbk (BJBR) will increase the disbursement of housing loans and lending to micro, small and medium enterprises in Indonesia, says compliance and risk management director Zaenal Aripin.

“Currently we are focusing on several regions such as Jakarta, Bandung and Banjarmasin,” he said in a media statement.

“We will add the services in other areas.”

Zaenal said the bank saw huge potential in housing loans, which was a reason why BJB had decided to channel its funds to the sector.

“There is an increasing trend of property sales, especially houses, in Indonesia,” he said.

“We are sure that the Indonesian public has good purchasing power, such as in Jakarta, Bandung and Banjarmasin, as shown by increased sales of houses.”

He said the bank enjoyed increasing performance in the fourth quarter of 2011 year-on-year.

The bank asset increased by 25.33 percent from Rp 43.45 trillion to Rp 54.45 trillion with lending grew by 21.50 percent from Rp 23.67 trillion to Rp 28.76 trillion. Third-party funds also increased quite strong at 22.18 percent from Rp 31.95 trillion to Rp 39.04 trillion.

Zaenal officiated a new branch in Banjarmasin on Thursday, which is the bank’s 56th branch. The bank already has networks in Banten, West Java, Jakarta, East Java, Central Java as well as in Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Bali.

The bank also has four regional offices, 213 sub-branches, 65 cash offices, 94 payment points, seven mobile cash units and 559 ATMs scattered in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the bank has also signed a loan agreement with state construction firm PT Nindya Karya. The agreement was signed by BJB commercial director Entis Kushendar and Nindya Karya finance director Danny Koestanto.

Entis said that the loan was to increase Nindya Karya’s working capital for its projects for 12 months with a ceiling of Rp 500 billion. It consists of a Rp 250 billion cash loan to finance various projects and the remainder for the issuance of bank guarantee and letter of credit.

“The loan agreement with PT Nindya Karya is our real effort to support the development of infrastructure in Indonesia,” he said in a statement.

“The provision of loans for the construction sector is a strategic step because there is still a lot of room for business expansion, which keeps increasing.”

Entis added that BJB had tried to realize healthy and quality loan growth while at the same time implement prudence and good risk management.

The bank is 25 percent publicly owned, while the remaining 75 percent is owned by the provincial administrations of Banten and West Java along with regency and city administrations in both provinces. (nvn/The JakartaPost)

Editor: