Outstanding loans during the week had increased 18.73 percent from the same period last year, according to a weekly survey conducted by Bank Indonesia.

“The year-to-date growth in total bank lending was about Rp 115.25 trillion or 8.06 percent,” BI spokesman Difi A. Johansyah said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Difi said rupiah loans had increased by Rp 10.91 trillion during the week, while foreign exchange loans had fallen by Rp 2.09 trillion.

“The year-on-year growth of rupiah loans reached 21.45 percent, while that of foreign exchange loans was only 1.37 percent,” he said.

With the promising growth in loans, Bank Indonesia was upbeat that growth in bank lending would reach between 20 and 22 percent this year, exceeding the central bank’s initial target of between 18 and 20 percent.

Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Muliaman D. Hadad has said bank lending growth could reach 24 percent this year if the upward trend continued.

“If lending can grow by at least Rp 9 trillion a month, I am sure annual lending growth could reach 24 percent this year,” he said.

Lending growth fell to less than 10 percent in 2009 from more than 30 percent in 2008, partly because of the global financial crisis.

In its weekly report, the central bank also said bank deposits during the week had increased by
Rp 21.28 trillion to Rp 2,034.87 trillion. With the increase, the year-on-year growth of bank deposits had reached 13.48 percent, while its year-to-date increase was at 3.27 percent.

The survey also indicated that the net interest margin of banks with total assets of less than Rp 1 trillion remained high — at 8.44 percent for rupiah loans, and 8.22 percent for foreign exchange loans.

Meanwhile, for banks with assets exceeding Rp 15 trillion, the net interest margin was lower — at 5.2 percent for rupiah loans and 3.2 percent for forex loans.