Additional Rp 100 Trillion SAL Injection into Himbara Could Suppress Interest Costs

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has responded to Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa’s move to add a Rp 100 trillion injection of excess budget balance (SAL) funds to banks in the Himbara group (the association of state-owned banks). OJK’s Executive Head of Banking Supervision, Dian Ediana Rae, stated that this step supports banking liquidity. Moreover, Dian said that placing SAL funds will help suppress interest costs. “Because now, what is called the special rate has significantly decreased, so the competition among banks to vie for funds is not as intense,” Dian told reporters when met at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, 25 March 2026. Dian also hopes that the drop in special rates will encourage banks to lower interest rates in line with the benchmark rate set by Bank Indonesia. Currently, the BI-Rate is at 4.75 percent. Dian also does not object if the funds are used by banks to purchase Government Securities (SBN). According to her, investment in SBN is temporary. Meanwhile, the ultimate goal of a bank is to provide credit. According to Dian, if credit demand increases, the banking sector will later liquidate the SBN that has been purchased. “And I think if they buy SBN, it actually helps the country; it comes back to helping the country with fiscal financing, right,” she said. Previously, the government had placed Rp 200 trillion in SAL funds in Himbara. Thus, the total funds transferred now amount to Rp 300 trillion. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated that this addition aims to increase liquidity in the economic system. Because, according to him, liquidity is evident from the rising yields on securities. “A week before Eid, I added another Rp 100 trillion to the economic system,” Purbaya said at the Ministry of Finance office in Jakarta on Wednesday, 25 March 2026. He did not detail which banks received the funds or the amounts allocated. However, Purbaya mentioned that Bank DKI received around Rp 2 trillion.