Purbaya Extends SAL Funds, BRI: Optimistic About Banking Credit Growth
Jakarta, VIVA - State-owned issuer, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BBRI), has positively responded to the government’s decision to extend the placement of Excess Budget Funds (SAL) in state-owned banks (Himbara) by IDR 200 trillion.
BRI’s Director of Treasury and International Banking, Farida Thamrin, said that the company received a total of IDR 80 trillion in SAL funds. She detailed that IDR 55 trillion came from the SAL distributed by Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, while IDR 25 trillion was a second-phase injection with a short-term nature.
Farida believes that the SAL funds are a positive signal for the banking industry, as they provide confidence in liquidity stability and the sustainability of banking intermediation functions. These funds will be channelled into various credit segments, with a primary focus on the micro sector, which is the backbone of the company’s business.
“With this extension of the SAL, we are even more confident that the liquidity stability of the banking sector will be well maintained. If liquidity is maintained, the transmission of fiscal policy to the real sector will also be more optimal,” said Farida during a virtual press conference on the Financial Performance Report for the Fourth Quarter of 2025, on Thursday, February 26, 2026.
BRI has distributed these funds to various productive economic sectors, ranging from micro-enterprises, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to consumer and some corporate sectors. Approximately 50 percent of the distribution is focused on the micro segment, in line with BRI’s mandate as a bank that focuses on empowering MSMEs.
In addition, the distribution of SAL funds also reaches strategic sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, as well as wholesale and retail trade. These sectors are considered to have an important role in maintaining national economic resilience and creating a multiplier effect on growth.
The extension of the placement of SAL funds, said Farida, will have a positive impact on the prospects for banking credit growth in the future. Although funding is abundant, the company still prioritizes prudence in credit expansion.
“Seeing this extension of the SAL, we are very optimistic that banking credit growth in the future will have a positive aura,” Farida continued.
On the one hand, Farida highlighted the challenges in realizing banking credit growth, which is highly dependent on demand. In addition, Farida also sees that the readiness of the real sector is still a constraint.