OJK says RI banking industry has future

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) said that the Indonesian banking industry was showing much more potential in comparison to its Southeast Asian neighbors.

Based on OJK data, as of Dec. 31, 2013, Indonesian banks had a net interest margin of 4.89 percent, as reported by tribunnews.com.

In comparison, the net interest margin in the Philippines stood at 3.3 percent, 2.6 percent in Thailand, 2.3 percent in Malaysia and 1.3 percent in Singapore.

"This shows that we have far better prospects than our neighboring countries," Slamet Edy Poernomo, the OJK's banking supervision director, said in Jakarta on Friday.

Slamet emphasized that Indonesians should anticipate the expected increase in the number of foreign banks in the country following the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.

"The OJK has prepared a 2014 Indonesian Banking Masterplan in preparation for the AEC in order to enhance our banks' competitiveness," he said.

Other efforts include educating the public about the importance of consumer protection. (fss)

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"I think this is a fresh angina for investors who will or already has share in Indonesia. But it must be so maintained, dikarenkan free trade (APEC) in 2015 which started a huge impact on the growth of the State economy. If the government can not afford to control Indonesia and could face huge losses."