IslamicFinance.de

Islamic banking and loans without interest are the key to Indonesia's growth in the field of Islamic finance. A good example of such loans is the story of 50-year-old widow Nur Hanifah, who took out a Shariah-compliant loan from Bank Muamalat Indonesia in order to help finance a store on the ground floor of a shophouse. She does not pay interest but instead she must give the bank a certain percentage of her profit plus part of the principal each month. The percentage usually is about 40%. Hanifah explains that even when times are bad, she does not have any financial worries because then she does not have to pay anything compared to times when she has good profit.

Responsibilities:
· Formulate strategies and identify prospective customers according to the target market
· Solisitasi process and collection of funds
· Implement training and monitoring of financial activities depositors
· Fostering and maintaining good relationships with customers on the basis of mutual respect, especially a good and profitable customers

Requirements:
· S1 Accounting Programs
· Male Maximum age 27 years

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The marketing campaign of solar panel and heating installer The Solar Guys' first sukuk has been going on for a while. The Islamic bond, due in the first half of 2013, serves to fund a 250MW solar power plant in Indonesia. The Solar Guys and Mitabu have formed a joint venture called SGI-Mitabu. The joint venture aims to raise $500 million to build and finance the power plant.

The Finance Ministry has set stricter down payment requirements on Islamic financing concerning automotive purchases in order to to help curb consumer financing growth. According to the new regulation, a down payment of 20% for two-wheeled vehicle purchases and a 25% down payment for four-wheeled vehicles is required. The regulation will apply to all non-bank Islamic financing institutions. The requirements for the purchase of commercial four-wheeled vehicles, e.g. trucks or buses, are a 20% down payment.

Just in time for the beginning of 2013, Bank Indonesia (BI) introduced several new regulations serving to improve banks’ competitive and operating efficiencies, maintain stability via capital enhancement and ensure long-term sustainable growth among other things. Some of the rulings are higher CAR for higher-risk profiled banks, limitation in banking activities based on banks’ tier I capital, and productive loans with minimum MSME to limit credit risk.

Indonesia is developing into a significant takaful industry, demonstrating higher growth rates in gross written premiums generated than some of the GCC countries. Key factors for the dynamic growth of the industry are the relatively low penetration rates in combination with strong macroeconomic fundamentals, favorable demographics and an improved regulatory framework. Moreover, both domestic and international takaful insurance companies increase in number, thus supporting the overall growth of the industry.

The government of Indonesia plans the issuance of rupiah-denominated sukuk next year which shall be used for financing state projects. Analysts welcome this move considering it a breakthrough in the development of the country’s undersized Islamic finance sector. According to the 2013 state budget financial note, up to Rp 1 trillion (US$103.5 million) will be borrowed by the Finance Ministry using sukuk issuance to finance state projects next year. Islamic bonds should be perceived as an alternative source of financing for the government’s infrastructure projects.

Indonesia is on the course to become the major player in takaful industry. Growth rate as well as premiums for takaful operations has been increasingly growing in the last years and as result thereof, Indonesia could overtake several GCC countries. During the 2007-2010 period, the growth of Indonesian takaful industry was being supported from both domestic and international insurance companies. The Industry outlook for the period 2012-2016 remains in all aspects positive.

Islamic Banks expect rapid growth in 2013. According to a central bankier, Indonesian banks will register higher profits in upcoming year despite more stringent rules imposed by the Indonesian central bank. The total amount of Islamic assets including Islamic-compliant rural banks grew up by 37 percent comparing to last year, a deputy governor of Bank Indonesia said. He expects that the amount of Islamic assets will continue growing in the next year.

Sharia banking soars in several countries including Indonesia with 191 operating sharia banks. Between 2007 and 2011, the sharia banking sector has achieved an average growth-rate of 40.2 percent per annum. Even thought the potential of sharia banking is big, the conventional banking system still plays an important role in banking system which cannot be overseen.

The Senior FSD Specialist will primarily be responsible for:

Leading the Bank’s financial inclusion work in Indonesia, including through the design, delivery, implementation and monitoring of existing and prospective financial inclusion projects (lending, economic and sector work, technical assistance), including in areas such as microfinance, access to finance for MSMEs and women, micro-insurance, financial literacy and consumer protection, international migration and remittances; Islamic financing.

Due to a shortage of Islamic sovereign debt, the new dollar-denominated sukuk of Indonesia rallied at the double pace of than non-Islamic securities this week. The sales gathered $5 billion in orders for $1 billion on offer. The bonds, which will reach maturity in 2022, are sold at a coupon of 3.3%. Since November 19th, the yield fell 17 basis points reaching 3.13%. Compared to that, not Shariah-compliant bonds declined only 8 basic points to 2.91%. The current 2.82% are a record low for Shariah-compliant borrowing costs in the international markets. It is possible that next year the shortage will become even more acute because of the government's plans to cut overseas sales in order to reduce its foreign-currency risk.

Just as HSBC Holdings announced it would shrink its Islamic banking operations in a number of countries, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi made plans to increase the contribution of its Shariah-compliant operations three times over the next eight years. Thus, it becomes clear that HSBC's move is nothing but a sign of its own priorities. While it is set to continue its operations mainly in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia with a limited presence in Indonesia, local banks have the opportunity to step in for it.

In a statement, Fitch Ratings announced that it assigned the upcoming USD3bn Perusahaan Penerbit SBSN Indonesia III's (PPSI-III) global certificates (Sukuk), due 2022, a rating of 'BBB-(EXP)'. This rating is in accordance with the expectations. Thus, Fitch's view that the cashflows supporting payment on the Sukuk constitute direct, unconditional, unsecured and general obligations of the Republic of Indonesia are confirmed.

CEO of AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics - Zubair Mughal - explained at an International Microfinance Conference in at an International Microfinance Conference that in the time of the global financial crisis even developed countries are making efforts to fight the global issue of poverty. The conference was organised by the Government of Indonesia together with the World Bank. 600 people took part in the conference, among them delegates and experts from 30 different countries. Some of the prominent participants were President of Indonesia Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Noble Prize Winner Dr Muhammad Yunus, Director of Global Microcredit Summit Campaign Dr Larry Reed, and Mayada El. Zoghbhi from the World Bank.

Read more on: http://www.brecorder.com/money-a-banking/198/1253396/

The second Global Policy Forum of Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) took place in Bali last week. Beth Rhyne, the managing director of the Center for Financial Inclusion was a guest speaker at the forum and shared and explained what regulators were talking about. Some of the questions she answered concerned AFI's philosophy and concerns regarding consumer protection.

Read more on: http://cfi-blog.org/2010/10/06/%E2%80%98what-afi-is-doing-is-unprecedent...

Solar Guys, an Australian solar company, is installing a 50MW solar facility in Indonesia, the money for which is gained through sukuk. The project is part of a larger solar energy plan - a 250MW plan titled "one solar watt per person". Solar energy is an example of an area where Islamic finance can give additional value to both Muslims and non-Muslims since it is promoting greater sustainability.

Read more on: http://www.theislamicglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...

Since Malaysian home takaful market is bound to tight rules, Islamic insurers direct their expansion towards neighbouring Indonesia aiming to tap three times faster growth. Great Eastern Takaful Sdn Bhd already has a facility in Jakarta and now intends to address low-income people in the region. Etiqa Takaful Bhd also plans expansion in Indonesia - it focuses on buying an Indonesian Islamic insurer.

More on: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120927105638/Art...

Offers for strategic partnerships with foreign investors in plantation projects have been put up by Indonesian Islamic banks among which Bank Mandiri. This way, the Islamic banking platform shall be strengthened. Loan syndication for the purpose of financing medium and large scale projects is proposed. This kind of cooperation would result in an increase in the efficiency and better risk management as well as stronger Islamic banking.

More on: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120919215900/Art...