Indonesia's Banking Sector Remains Resilient, but Global Risks Must Be Monitored

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - In the midst of increasingly complex global economic dynamics, Indonesia’s banking industry is seen to remain resilient. However, a number of anticipatory strategies need to be prepared to maintain financial sector stability and sustainable growth going forward. Hery Gunardi, who is also the Chairman of Perbanas and the President Director of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BRI), explained that the fundamentals of the national banking industry up to early 2026 remain solid. At the same time, Third-Party Funds (DPK) grew by 10.8 percent year-on-year. The ratio of Non-Performing Loans (NPL) remains around 2.14 percent. Meanwhile, the sector’s capital adequacy strength remains solid with a Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of about 25.9 percent. “Several profitability indicators face moderate pressure as operating costs rise. Nevertheless, the banking sector still needs to be vigilant. Although the overall outlook for the banking industry remains fairly positive, we must remain anticipative of various potential risks ahead,” he said in a formal statement on Saturday (7/3/2026). At the same time, economic uncertainty also weighs on business performance, potentially increasing NPL risk, which in turn requires banks to be more selective in loan disbursement and to strengthen risk management and asset quality. Therefore, Hery said the banking industry needs to strengthen various risk mitigation measures to maintain financial sector stability. Banks should prepare several specific mitigation protocols. In addition, banks need to ensure adequate liquidity to face potential funding volatility by strengthening the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR). There is no alternative; banks must have a sufficient cash cushion. Indonesian banks must also manage foreign exchange risk and foreign currency liquidity by keeping the net open position (PDN) conservative, strengthening hedging strategies for FX exposure, and managing foreign currency maturity mismatches. In line with Hery, Deden Firman Hendarsyah, Deputy Commissioner for Regulation, Licensing and Quality Control at the Financial Services Authority (OJK), said the national banking condition is still quite resilient, particularly from capitalization indicators. The banking industry has a strong capital buffer to face global dynamics. “Similarly, in terms of liquidity, the condition remains ample and all main indicators are above the regulator’s minimum thresholds,” concluded Deden.