Indonesia: The call to consolidate

Despite a cyclical downturn – which has itself prompted the country’s banks to sharpen up their operations – the sector is in unprecedented good shape. But the banks need to be encouraged to lend more, and this is in part dependent on the consolidation a newly powerful central bank is keen to promote. Nick Parsons reports from Jakarta.

The ironies of Indonesia

indonesia-main.gif

Indonesian banks’ lending growth and profits fell in the first half of the year. But that should only be a short-term story. Taking the longer view, the banking sector – like the overall economy – is looking very encouraging.

Certainly that is what international investors have thought this year. They have reaped rich rewards from the stock market, the currency and government bonds, on the back of their growing faith in the stability of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono government and its reform drive.

Access this research

Enter your work email address to sign in or check whether your organisation already has access to Euromoney.