OJK: Banks Not Obliged to Finance Government Programmes, Must Prioritise Prudent Principles
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has emphasised that the banking sector is not obliged to disburse credit to finance government programmes, even though such plans are beginning to be incorporated into the Draft POJK on Bank Business Plans (RBB).
The Executive Head of OJK’s Banking Supervision, Dian Ediana Rae, stressed that the policy is not mandatory and still provides room for banks to determine their respective business strategies.
“The intended credit disbursement is not mandatory and is not accompanied by the setting of specific quotas by OJK. Banks still have the flexibility in establishing credit disbursement strategies by considering each bank’s risk appetite and risk tolerance,” Dian told Kompas.com on Monday (20/4/2026).
According to Dian, the inclusion of the point on credit for government programmes in the RBB is not intended as an obligation, but rather to strengthen the quality of banks’ business planning to make it more comprehensive and forward-oriented.
Through this business plan, banks are expected to be able to identify intermediation opportunities that can support national economic growth.
She explained that the existence of this point will provide a more comprehensive overview of the banks’ business planning, so that the potential for credit disbursement to sectors that impact the economy can be mapped more structuredly.
In this way, banks can still play a role in supporting government programmes without having to sacrifice business principles and risk management that form the basis of banking operations.
Furthermore, Dian emphasised that the decision on credit disbursement remains entirely in the hands of the banks as part of business judgement. The main considerations still include business prospects, debtor performance, and repayment capacity.
In this regard, credit disbursement by banks still refers to the provisions in POJK Number 42/POJK.03/2017 on general banks’ credit policies.
That regulation requires banks to have internal policies that cover the credit approval process, monitoring of credit quality, to mechanisms for resolving problematic credit.
In addition, banks are also required to conduct a comprehensive analysis of debtor feasibility before disbursing credit. This analysis includes aspects of character, capacity, capital, collateral, and economic conditions.
This step is reinforced by the obligation to form provisions in accordance with financial accounting standards as an effort to mitigate risk if non-performing loans occur.
Dian added that OJK also conducts periodic supervision of banking activities, both through monitoring of financial reports (offsite) and direct examinations (onsite).
This supervision covers the application of prudent principles in credit granting, the suitability of credit disbursement with the business plan, monitoring of credit quality, to the adequacy of provision formation.
With this arrangement, OJK hopes that the banking sector can continue to carry out its intermediation function optimally to support economic growth, without neglecting financial system stability.
This policy also reaffirms that the role of banking in supporting government programmes remains based on prudent principles and each bank’s business decisions, not obligations determined by the regulator.