Indonesia Accepts Islamic Megabank Challenge Shelved by Malaysia

The Indonesian government plans to merge the Shariah-compliant units of state-owned PT Bank Mandiri, PT Bank Negara Indonesia, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia and PT Bank Tabungan Negara with paid-up capital of more than 15 trillion rupiah ($1.1 billion) next year, Gatot Trihargo, deputy minister for government-run enterprises, said. Financial Services Authority Chairman Muliaman Hadad said in January that the plan may materialize this year. In the Indonesian plan, the government will ask the four lenders to provide 5 trillion rupiah to 10 trillion rupiah of capital to their Shariah banking units before the planned merger, Trihargo said. The combined entity will help manage about 70 trillion rupiah and this would be used to fund infrastructure projects, he said.