VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Bank Indonesia logo. (ANTARA/BI Documentation) - 

Bank Indonesia (BI) has said it is optimistic that credit will continue to grow in line with its previous projection of 5-7 percent for this year even amid emergency public activity restrictions (emergency PPKM).

"So far, we have not revised it yet. We still estimate that this year's credit projection is 5-7 percent,” assistant governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) and head of the bank's macroprudential policy department, Juda Agung, disclosed in Jakarta on Friday.

The central bank has not taken steps to revise the projected credit growth, he added.

However, he said he hoped that the implementation of the emergency PPKM would help control the spread of COVID-19.

“Hopefully, this PPKM will reduce the spread of COVID-19," he remarked.

Credit growth this year has begun to show positive signals, especially in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) segment, where it has reached 1.7 percent, in line with the improvement in MSME business activities, Agung informed.\

There has been an improvement in credit growth in the MSME sub-segment, except for micro businesses, which have still contracted 22.76 percent, while small businesses have grown 13.32 percent and medium businesses have grown 8.58 percent, he said.

Meanwhile, in the real sector, growth in corporate sales performance is improving, so it is estimated to grow positively in the second quarter of 2021, he said adding, the surge in COVID-19 cases needs to be closely watched, however, as it could affect the recovery in corporate performance.

An improvement in corporate sales has been seen in the main sectors of industry, trade, construction, and agriculture, which are expected to improve significantly in the second quarter, Agung said.

The demand for household credit has increased, as seen from the household financing demand survey, which has recorded an increase in the demand for Home Ownership Credit (KPR) and Motor Vehicle Loans (KKB), he pointed out.

"This increase in demand is in line with improving corporate sales performance and labor market conditions," he said.

Mortgage growth s far above total credit growth, which has still contracted at 1.28 percent, which is 6.1 percent .

Mortgage growth has tracked property sales, which grew around 13 percent in the first quarter, especially for medium-sized houses.

"Medium-type houses have rebounded even more than 20 percent compared to the fourth quarter, which was still experiencing contractions," Agung said//ANT