BTN pledges to help small house buyers
BTN pledges to help small house buyers
JAKARTA (JP): State-owned Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) will continue to direct most of its credits to small-house purchases despite its' growing services to non-housing sectors.
"We are committed to our mission, helping the financially weak, particularly those wanting to buy low-cost houses," BTN president Widigdo Sukarman told reporters here yesterday.
Next year, BTN will allocate around Rp 1.09 trillion (US$474.5 million), around 35 percent of its total lending portfolio for the year, to finance modest house construction and purchases.
He said that the loans could be used to purchase 143,690 units of housing measuring between 18 and 21 square meters.
BTN's total credits for the purchases of modest houses reached around Rp 5.2 trillion since October when the bank launched the facility in 1976. The number of houses financed with the bank's credits reached over 1.02 million, mostly built under the government's public housing program.
BTN receives a special credit from Bank Indonesia, the central bank, to finance its modest-house loans, in addition to the government's equity participation in the bank.
He said that the interest rates on the bank's lending facility would be kept at 8.5 percent per annum for the purchase of houses measuring 18 square meters and at 11 percent for 21-square-meter houses.
The interest rates for the modest-home credits are much lower than the 20 percent imposed on the bank's credits for the purchase of houses of above 21 square meters and those for non- housing lending.
Widigdo said that the bank's lending portfolio in non-housing sectors, which this year is projected to account for around 20 percent of its total lending, will be further expanded.
"But we have to be very careful because non-housing sectors are more risky," he said.
The bank's total assets reached Rp 8.87 trillion as of October, indicating a 33.24 percent hike from its position at the same month of last year. Its net profit rose by 40 percent to Rp 155.18 billion during the first 10 months of this year from Rp 114.11 billion in the same period of last year. (hen)