TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A number of Indonesian banks managed to post double-digit loan growths in the first half of this year. Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional Tbk (BTPN), for example, recorded a 15-percent credit growth to Rp50 trillion, with a gross non-performing loans (NPL) ratio of just 0.9 percent.

"Compared to the first quarter of this year, lending in the second quarter grew 6.3 percent from a previous Rp47 trillion," BTPN director Jerry Ng, was quoted as saying in a press release yesterday.

Meanwhile, Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk recorded a 13-percent credit growth to Rp141 trillion during the first half of this year.

"In the banking industry, liquidity is getting tighter; creating a competitive operating environment. Yet we can maintain our credit and funding growth at a healthy level," Danamon president director Henry Ho said last weekend.

Ahmad Baiquni, finance director of Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk (BRI), previously said BRI's credit growth in the second semester will reach 17 percent, in line with the bank's target.

"It will slow down in the second half in accordance with Bank Indonesia's directions," he said some time ago.

Not just commercial banks, Islamic banks are also recording financing growth. Bank Nasional Indonesia Syariah (BNI Syariah), for example, posted a 39.7-percent consumer financing growth to Rp13.36 trillion.

DEWI SUCI | JAYADI SUPRIADIN | AYU WANDARI | MAYA NAWANGWULAN | TRI ARTINING PUTRI