Big banks' lending rates use as JIBOR's basis

Big banks' lending rates use as JIBOR's basis

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia is using the lending rates of 24
major commercial banks as the basis for the newly-launched
Jakarta Inter-bank Offered Rates (JIBOR).

The central bank announced yesterday that the 24 banks
comprised seven state-owned banks, 10 private domestic banks and
seven foreign banks.

The JIBOR, which was formally launched on Thursday, is
transmitted daily to the central bank's Electronic Money Market
Information System, Reuters and Telerate.

The JIBOR covers reference rates for overnight transactions
and those with maturities of one week, one month, three months
and 12 months. Information on indicative interest rates includes
average, highest and lowest levels, based on lending rates
supplied by the 24 banks to the central bank's money market
information system before 11:00 a.m. each day.

There were previously three different benchmark rates in
Indonesia: Bank Indonesia's, Reuters' and Telerate's.

In order to resolve the difference and to provide more
reliable and representative benchmark rates, Bank Indonesia and
the two foreign institutions agreed recently to standardize their
three different rates, an executive of the central bank said
recently. (hen)