Shariah Banks Look to Farmers In an Effort to Grow Lending

Bank Muamalat Indonesia is seeking to boost lending tenfold outside cities in 2011 after opening 30 new branches last year.
Islamic lenders accounted for 1.8 percent of the Rp 91 trillion ($10.4 billion) in loans to the farming industry in 2010, figures from the central bank show.
Offering services to growers of palm oil, cocoa and corn will help Islamic banks meet the government’s target of expanding assets by 55 percent this year, according to Bank Indonesia.