ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA — Indonesia’s financial industry remains fundamentally resilient despite mounting global economic challenges, but industry leaders say business transformation and a stronger focus on quality will be essential to sustaining long-term growth in an increasingly complex environment.
Speaking at the “Shaping the Next Era of Indonesia’s Capital Market” session during Investor Day 2026 at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday, Bank Jakarta President Director Agus H. Widodo said the country’s banking sector continues to demonstrate solid fundamentals.
According to Agus, Indonesia’s banking industry is supported by healthy credit growth, strong capital adequacy, ample liquidity, and relatively low non-performing loan (NPL) ratios.
“The issue is not the fundamentals. The playing field has changed,” Agus said.
He noted that over the past several years, banks have been forced to navigate an increasingly unpredictable landscape shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, and shifting international trade policies.
As a result, financial institutions can no longer rely on conventional business strategies and must adapt to a rapidly evolving operating environment.
Agus also highlighted growing pressure on banks’ funding costs. He said interbank deposit auction rates had at one point climbed to 11.5 percent, signaling intensifying competition for liquidity and rising costs of raising funds.
Bank Jakarta Accelerates Transformation
To respond to these structural changes, Bank Jakarta has launched a comprehensive transformation program spanning its business model, digital services, risk management, and corporate culture.
As a regional development bank majority-owned by the Jakarta Provincial Government, Bank Jakarta is strengthening its role within the local government financial ecosystem.
Agus said the significant circulation of public funds within the Jakarta provincial administration presents substantial opportunities for sustainable business growth.
The bank is also accelerating digital transformation through technology infrastructure upgrades, application development, and workforce capability enhancement.
Risk management has become another strategic priority.
According to Agus, banking risks are becoming increasingly multidimensional, extending well beyond traditional credit risk to include cyber threats and other emerging vulnerabilities.
“Future risks will become increasingly multidimensional,” he said.
Indonesia Stock Exchange Calls for Higher-Quality Investors
At the same forum, Indonesia Stock Exchange Director of Business Development Jeffry Hendrik emphasized that improving investor quality is critical to deepening Indonesia’s capital market.
Working alongside Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the country’s self-regulatory organizations (SROs), the IDX continues to strengthen market transparency, provide more granular investor data, deepen market participation, and enhance corporate disclosure standards.
“We believe better transparency will ultimately build greater trust,” Jeffry said.
He revealed that the number of domestic investors has now surpassed 28 million, reflecting the rapid expansion of Indonesia’s retail investment base.
However, Jeffry stressed that increasing investor numbers alone is not sufficient.
Instead, sustainable capital market development requires investors with stronger financial literacy, sound investment knowledge, and the ability to assess risks independently rather than simply following market trends or social media influencers.
“Investors should be capable of conducting their own analysis—not simply following influencers or investing out of FOMO (fear of missing out),” he said.
Prioritizing Sustainable, High-Quality Growth
The message closely aligns with Bank Jakarta’s long-term strategy.
Rather than pursuing rapid expansion at any cost, Agus said the bank is prioritizing sustainable and high-quality growth.
“We are not chasing growth for its own sake. Our priority is healthy, sustainable, and high-quality growth,” he said.
Leaders from both Indonesia’s banking industry and capital market agreed that quality—not merely scale—will be the defining factor in strengthening the country’s financial resilience.
Digital transformation, stronger corporate governance, greater transparency, enhanced cybersecurity, and broader financial literacy are expected to become the key pillars supporting Indonesia’s financial sector as it navigates an increasingly dynamic global economy. (Silvia Andriani)
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