RI sharia banks’ expects 45% asset growth in 2011

Bank Indonesia expects sharia banking assets to grow by 45 percent this year after five banks established sharia business units in 2010.

This is due to growing investor interest in opening more sharia banks in the world’s largest Muslim country by population.

BI director for sharia banking Mulya Siregar unveiled on Friday three schemes for Indonesia’s sharia banking assets growth.

The first estimates the sector to book a moderate growth of total assets of 45 percent, the second — dubbed the “most positive scenario” — forecasts a 55 percent growth , and the third and most pessimistic scenario forecasts a 35 percent growth.

Mulya’s target said sharia banking assets were expected to increase by US$3.92 billion to US$6.18 billion throughout this year, based on total assets in December 2010 of US$11.2 billion, which were up 47 percent compared from a year earlier.

“The amount of assets, which surpassed Rp 100 trillion, could be seen as the beginning of the new stage of development.

“With an estimated total customers of 6 million people and 20,000 employees, the role of this industry cannot be underestimated,” he told a press briefing at BI offices in Jakarta. He estimated the banking sector would absorb an additional 1 million new customers this year, which would mean 7 million customers by the end of the year.

Five spin-off banks established in 2010 — Bank Negara Indonesia Syariah, Bank Jabar Banten Syariah, Bank Central Asia Syariah, Bank Victoria Syariah and Maybank Syariah — helped boost sharia banking assets during the year and are expected to “have huge impacts on the third party funds of the sharia banking system”, he said.