CIMB Niaga Projects Up to 10% Growth in Loans by Year-End
Jakarta. CIMB Niaga, the fifth-largest bank in Indonesia by assets, has forecast 10 percent growth in loans by the end of this year amid global uncertainty and a nationwide economic slowdown.
"We'll probably see about 10 percent growth, in line with the industry ... I think that would be good, considering the current market backdrop" Tigor Siahaan, the president director of CIMB Niaga, said in Jakarta on Monday.
"Hopefully government spending in the third and fourth quarters will help a bit. We've seen some improvement from several industries, like cement, which slumped in the beginning of the year, but is now starting to pick up," he added.
Tigor has estimated national loan growth at between 10 percent and 13 percent this year, citing sluggish growth in the global economy as a factor for the slowing trend.
"That's sufficient for me ... because there are so many other economies that are growing much slower than [Indonesia's]," he said. "I know we're used to a 20 percent to 25 percent growth, but the reality is that growth is slowing around the world."
Total outstanding loans at CIMB Niaga grew 9.8 percent year-on-year to Rp 180.8 trillion ($12.5 billion) as of June, mostly dominated by loans to the corporate sector.
Loan growth in Indonesia has been moving at a sluggish pace so far this year, in line with the nation's slowing economy, which grew at 4.67 percent in the first half of the year.
Bank Indonesia estimates that total outstanding loans in the country climbed 10.9 percent year-on-year in August, with a forecast between 11 percent and 13 percent growth by the end of the year.
Tags: Keywords: