Mandiri set to boost micro loans

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Bank Mandiri, the country's largest bank, plans to boost its lending to micro businesses by opening up to 300 more micro units next year to add to the existing 311.

"Micro businesses are very important in Indonesia as they provide employment. That's why we have to support them," said micro and retail banking director Budi Gunadi Sadikin on Wednesday.

He said that of the 300 new micro units, 104 would be in Jakarta, 60 in Sumatra, 25 in West Java, 24 in Central Java and Yogyakarta, 30 in East Java, 12 in Bali, 20 in Kalimantan and 25 in Sulawesi and Papua.

According to the central bank, loans of up to Rp 50 million (around US$5,300) are categorized as micro, from Rp 50 million to Rp 500 million as small and from Rp 500 million to Rp 5 billion as medium.

Budi said Mandiri commenced lending to micro, small and medium enterprises in 2005.

"We want to see more entrepreneurs establishing micro businesses. Unfortunately, Indonesian youth has a lack of role models in the entrepreneurship arena," he said in a discussion on the development of micro, small and medium enterprises.

Mandiri's lending to micro business during the first nine months of this year amounted to only Rp 1.12 trillion, less than 1 percent of its total loan book of Rp 121.7 trillion.

Still, it reflects an increase of 4 percent from last year's Rp 982 billion.

In addition to providing more loans to micro businesses, Mandiri is also stepping up its efforts to boost its housing loan portfolio, taking advantage of rising demand on the back of declining interest rates.

Also on Wednesday, Mandiri signed an agreement with top developer PT Lippo Cikarang.

Under the partnership agreement, every buyer of a home or shophouse in Lippo Cikarang that has been purchased with a loan from Mandiri will get a fixed 7.77 percent interest rate during the first two years.

"We are offering loans ranging from Rp 25 million to Rp 5 billion for customers who use Bank Mandiri's housing loan scheme," said the bank's director for consumer finance, Omar S. Anwar.

Meanwhile, PT Excelcomindo Pratama, Indonesia's third-biggest mobile-phone operator, said it had received a Rp 4 trillion ($424 million) loan from Bank Mandiri to expand its network.

The funds will be used to build transmission towers and fiber optic cabling, President Director Hasnul Suhaimi told Bloomberg.

It will be repaid in five years, the telecoms company said in an e-mailed statement.

Excelcomindo, controlled by Telekom Malaysia Bhd., is building networks outside the main island of Java to win more customers and counter falling prices. The company, also known as Excelcom, obtained shareholders' approval in November to raise $950 million by selling bonds or borrowing.

"We'll probably seek a syndicated loan as well as issuing bonds next year" to refinance the debt, Suhaimi said. He didn't elaborate.

The Jakarta-based company had 12.8 million subscribers as of Sept. 30. PT Telekomunikasi Selular is Indonesia's largest wireless operator, followed by PT Indosat and Excelcom.