TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Executive Director for the Islamic Economic Forum for Indonesian Development (ISEFID), Ali Sakti, predicts that sharia banking will progressively grow this year. He predicts the profit and loss sharing (PLS) will advance close to 40 percent while the non-performing financing (NPF) will get lower; below 4 percent.

“In the future, sharia banking must interconnect with a sharia microfinance agency that’s feasible and has local knowledge in strengthening the micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” Ali Sakti said on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

According to Ali, Sharia banking can play a significant role in the national economy, especially in pushing the real sector’s growth. Therefore, the sharia banking must maintain its growth momentum and market share throughout 2017.

As of the end of 2016, sharia banking grew 19.67 percent. Meanwhile, its market share reached 5.12 percent, which is the highest throughout the existence of sharia banking in Indonesia.

“The success of the national sharia banking cannot be separated from the success of Aceh’s Regional Development Banks (BPD) by doing a thorough conversion in September 2016,” Ali revealed.

He said that currently, a number of BPDs in West Nusa Tenggara are in the process of becoming sharia BPDs, as well as other regions that will potentially follow suit. The potential fund received from the conversions is predicted to reach a Rp9-10 trillion.

ABDUL MALIK