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In this article we are taking a quick look at various macroeconomic data that help us assess the state of the Indonesian economy in the first quarter of 2024. This update is much more succinct than our normal economic update because we already have one article devoted to the Indonesian economy in this report (zooming in on the Q3-2023 and full-year gross domestic growth data of 2023).
Although in some respects Indonesia has exited the COVID-19 crisis (for example, the economic recession ended in Q2-2021, and the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths eased significantly), the road ahead is uncertain and full of challenges.
Consumer credit has been the driver for credit growth in Indonesia's banking sector in the first two months of 2018. Within consumer credit it are the multipurpose and motor vehicles segments that show good growth. Based on data from Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) consumer credit grew 11.1 percent year-on-year (y/y) to IDR 1,392.4 trillion (approx. USD $101.6 billion) in February 2018, accelerating from a 10.4 percent (y/y) growth pace in the preceding month.
Bank Indonesia, the central bank of Indonesia, said credit growth in the domestic banking sector reached 7.4 percent year-on-year (y/y) per November 2017, lower than the growth rate in the preceding month (8.1 percent y/y). In absolute terms credit growth in Indonesia's banking sector stood at IDR 4,635 trillion (approx. USD $343 billion) in the January-November 2017 period.
Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) is optimistic that credit growth will accelerate in Indonesia in 2018. The lender of last resort set its credit growth forecast for 2018 at the range of 12-14 percent year-on-year (y/y), up from its 10-12 percent (y/y) growth forecast for 2017, on the back of accelerating economic growth. The Indonesian government proposes economic growth at 5.4 percent (y/y) in 2018 (possibly a too ambitious target).
Indonesia's purchasing power may not be as weak as initially assumed in the first half of 2017. It could be that consumers and businesses now actually prefer to save their funds on banks than to spend and invest. Based on data from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) third-party funds in Indonesia's banking sector (saving and deposit accounts) expanded 11.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) to IDR 5,012.5 trillion (approx. USD $3,775.4 billion) in May 2017.
As we are in the middle of earnings season, it is interesting to take a look at the January-June 2017 corporate earnings reports of Indonesia's listed companies. Something that stands out so far is the good earnings of banks and commodity-related companies (mining and agriculture). Of Indonesia's 15 biggest banks (in terms of assets) only four experienced a contraction in net profit. This good performance comes in times when credit growth has remained rather bleak in Indonesia. So where does banks' excellent profit growth come from?
The property sector of Indonesia remains somewhat depressed. This is reflected by sluggish demand for house ownership credit (in Indonesian: kredit pemilikan rumah, abbreviated as KPR) and apartment ownership credit (kredit pemilikan apartment, or KPA) so far this year. According to data from Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) KPR and KPA credit disbursement growth stood at 7.7 percent on a year-on-year (y/y) basis in May 2017, slowing from a 7.8 percent (y/y) growth pace in the preceding month.
Credit growth in Indonesia's banking sector is estimated to have, finally, touched double-digit figures in the first half of 2017, while growth should further accelerate in the remainder of the year. Some Indonesian banks saw their credit growth figures touch 20 percent (y/y) so far this year, a marked improvement from the situation one year ago. Lets zoom in on the performance of two big Indonesian banks.
Indonesian banks are expected to be cautious boosting credit disbursement in the next couple of quarters because the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio is currently high with the gross NPL ratio hovering above 3 percent since mid-2016, approximately the same level as it was in 2011 when Indonesia's five-year economic slowdown commenced. Although various external and internal matters were to blame for Indonesia's 2011-2015 economic slowdown, the high NPL ratio today can undermine economic acceleration as credit growth is curbed.
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Before turning our attention to the economy of Indonesia, it is important to take a closer look at the global economy first. Fortunately, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) just released a new update (called the OECD Economic Outlook, Interim Report September 2022) and so it’s certainly worthwhile to take a look at its conclusions.
There are reasons to be optimistic about Indonesia’s economic activity in the fourth quarter of 2021. Obviously, the underlying reason being that new confirmed COVID-19 infections have not been far from zero in Indonesia throughout the final quarter of the year. As a consequence, the government of Indonesia did not need to impose tough restrictions, hence economic activity is allowed to blossom.
At a special occasion at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged local banks to become more aggressive in terms of lending as credit disbursement in Indonesia's banking sector only reached IDR 4,782 trillion (approx. USD $349 billion) in 2017, hence growing by only a modest 8.3 percent year-on-year (y/y), thus unable to provide an optimal boost to domestic economic growth.
The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) kept its benchmark interest rate (seven-day reverse repo rate) at 4.75 percent at the April policy meeting (19-20 April 2017), while its deposit facility rate and lending facility rate stayed at 4.00 percent and 5.50 percent, respectively. Bank Indonesia considers the current interest rate environment appropriate to face global uncertainties as well as rising inflationary pressures at home.
Bank Indonesia cut its projection for credit growth in the nation's banking sector this year from the range of 10 - 11 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 7 - 9 percent (y/y). This downward revision is in line with the central bank's earlier decision to cut its forecast for economic growth from the range of 5.0 - 5.4 percent (y/y) to 4.9 - 5.3 percent (y/y) in 2016. The slightly less rosy outlook is caused by the Indonesian government's decision to cut spending for the remainder of the year, while global economic growth remains subdued.
Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), one of the leading banks in Indonesia, is expected to maintain rising net profit figures in the years ahead due to its decision to focus on (corporate) credit disbursement for domestic infrastructure development projects. In fact, according to RHB OSK Securities, BNI may become the state-controlled bank that benefits most from the government decision to raise its infrastructure budget to IDR 313.5 trillion (approx. USD $24 billion) in the 2016 State Budget. Last year, growth of credit disbursed by BNI to infrastructure projects climbed 116.2 percent (y/y). This year infrastructure credit may grow by another 19 percent.
Bank Indonesia's decision to cut Indonesia's benchmark interest rate (BI rate) gradually from 7.50 percent at the year-start to 6.75 percent in March should lead to rising credit growth in Indonesia as borrowing costs have become less expensive. Bank Mandiri, Indonesia’s largest financial institution by assets, should see its financial performance improve due to the looser monetary policy. For Trimegah Securities the new context was reason to revise its forecast for net profit and net interest income of Bank Mandiri, a state-controlled entity that is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (the central government owns a 60 percent stake).
In line with expectation, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) cut its benchmark interest rate (BI rate) by 25 basis points to 6.75 percent on Thursday (17/03) at its two-day policy meeting. It is the third straight month of monetary easing in Southeast Asia's largest economy. In the preceding two months the lender of last resort had also cut borrowing costs by 0.25 percent, each month. Furthermore, the deposit and lending facility rates were also cut by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent and 7.25 percent, respectively (effective per 18 March 2016).
Tomorrow (05/02), Statistics Indonesia is scheduled to release Indonesia's official full-year 2015 economic growth figure. Nearly all analysts expect to see a figure that reflects the continuation of slowing economic growth. Southeast Asia's largest economy expanded 5.0 percent in 2014 and this is expected to have eased further to 4.7 percent or 4.8 percent in 2015 on the back of (interrelated) sluggish global growth, low commodity prices, and weak export performance. Domestically, Indonesia has or had to cope with high interest rates and inflation (hence curtailing people's purchasing power and consumption as well as business expansion).
New York-based financial services firm Standard & Poor's stated that Indonesia's banking industry will feel the negative impact of Indonesia's sluggish economic growth in combination with persistently low commodity prices next year. This combination may weaken profitability of the nation's banking industry. S&P puts Indonesia's economic growth in 2016 at 5 percent (y/y), below the International Monetary Fund's and World Bank's forecast as well as the central government's target, all at 5.3 percent (y/y).
