Indonesian Government to Place Funds in Sharia Banks

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian Ministry of Finance will place funds in three sharia banks to encourage distribution of financing, especially to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

However, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has not yet stated the amount of budget prepared for this latest step and when the details will be realized.

The three Islamic banks that will get the placement of government funds are Mandiri Syariah, BNI Syariah, and BRI Syariah. The policy complements the placement of funds that the government has made to four state-owned banks in June and dozens of Regional Development Banks (BPD) since July.

“Yesterday, we were in Himbara, then BPD. Now we will cover other banks including sharia (banks),” Sri said in a press conference on State Budget Performance on Tuesday.

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Director General of Treasury of the Ministry of Finance Andin Hadiyanto said that apart from the three Islamic banks, the Ministry of Finance has also hooked up four other BPDs. Namely BPD North Sumatra, BPD Jambi, BPD South Sulawesi and West Sulawesi (Sulselbar), and BPD West Kalimantan (West Kalimantan).

Several banks have also expressed their interest to participate in this program. However, according to Andin, the Ministry of Finance is still waiting for the results of their due diligence from the Financial Services Authority (OJK). “We are still asking the OJK to confirm his health,” said Andin.

Apart from increasing bank coverage, the government also plans to extend the placement of government funds in Himbara. LSupposedly, this program should have been completed on September 25, 2020, or three months since the government entrusted IDR 30 trillion in funds to these state-owned banks.

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The policy of giving three months is stipulated in the Minister of Finance Regulation (PMK) Number 104 of 2020 concerning the National Economic Recovery Program for Placement of Funds in the Context of Implementing the National Economic Recovery Program. Referring to this regulation, Himbara has until December 25 to repay the loan along with the interest.

Andin said the extension of the fund placement program at the Himbara bank was carried out after seeing the positive performance.

“We have evaluated it and the results are good for increasing production and increasing household income,” he said. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)