Jakarta, 20 January 2022 -- Economic performance in 2022 is projected to be stronger in line with increased community activity, the effect of the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. This year of Water Tiger is also expected to be a momentum for banking to boost the performance of the intermediation function while carrying out various corporate actions that boost long-term performance.
The government targets economic growth of 5.2% this year. Credit is also expected to grow in the range of 6% to 8% in line with accommodative banking policies in Indonesia in supporting economic stability. On the other hand, the Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) indicator, which continued to stay above 50 in the fourth quarter of last year, indicates that manufacturing activity is in the expansion stage.
The President Director of PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero), Tbk or BNI, Royke Tumilaar said that BNI had prepared a strategic plan, both organic and inorganic, in response to the potential for economic expansion this year. BNI will continue to maintain stronger credit growth above the average peer Bank while carrying out several corporate actions such as issuance of debt securities, shares, and Bank acquisitions.
"Of course we are optimistic that this year's performance will be better than last year. Moreover, the projected economic growth is in the range of 5% to 5.5% this year. It is time for economic recovery. This is the time for us to take the economic momentum so as not to lag behind the recovery of other countries," he said.
Royke explained that BNI's credit growth this year will remain above the industry average. As a state-owned Bank assigned to expand global business, BNI will focus on encouraging customers to increase international business penetration.
This year, BNI will also increase its efforts in working on the MSME segment, especially to be able to promote the grade by penetrating the export market with coaching programs and business partnerships at BNI Xpora.
Meanwhile, several corporate actions that will be carried out in 2022 are the issuance of green bonds, which is very in line with BNI's steps as one of the pioneers of green Banking in Indonesia. The company also has plans to issue new shares to strengthen capital to support long-term expansion.
"We also have a plan to acquire one Bank to become a digital Bank. We have quite large clients and partners as contributors to the ecosystem to complete our portfolio, especially MSMEs," he said. (*)