Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo (Photo courtesy of Bank Indonesia)Jakarta (VNA) – Bank Indonesia (BI) sees banklending to expand by 7 - 9 percent next year on the back of low-interestrates and recovery in the economy, according to its Governor Perry Warjiyo.
According to reports of the central bank, lending shrunk by 0.5 percent in thefirst 10 months this year from the same period last year, in line with theslowdown in business activities and weak consumer demand amid the COVID-19pandemic.
Consumers and companies alike clang to their cash, as evident in the 12percent growth of the third-party funds in local banks in the Jan-Octoberperiod, the bank said
Perry said the national economy has increased as the government is easing therestriction to curb the health crisis.
Other indicators also show improvement.Inflation rose slightly to 1.59 percent in November from 1.44 percent amonth earlier, reflecting an increase in consumer demand. Foreign exchangereserves continued to increase, while the current account deficit declined,and foreign capital flowed into Indonesia.
Those indicators encouraged BI to cut its benchmark rate by25 basis points last month to only 3.75 percent - the lowest in history./.
VNA
