BCA sees 2011 mortgage loan growth over 35 pct

Bank Central Asia , Indonesia's biggest lender by market value, sees its mortage loan growth at over 35 percent this year, outpacing its overall loan growth of over 20 percent on strong consumer demand in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

BCA, controlled by Indonesian conglomerate Djarum Group, competes with market leader Bank Tabungan Negara and Bank CIMB Niaga in the mortgage market, where its loan growth was about 30 percent last year.

"I think we can expand our mortgage loans up to 35 percent this year and perhaps could reach 40 percent next year given our low rate," Jahja Setiaatmadja, BCA's new CEO, told Reuters.

The bank's loan to deposit ratio is 56 percent, meaning it has to park extra reserves with the central bank, which from March said it wanted commercial banks to use at least 78 percent and up to 100 percent of their deposits for lending.

Setiaatmadja plans to leverage rising wealth in the country by focusing on the securities business after it acquired Dinamika Usaha Jaya, a small brokerage owned by Djarum Group.
"We want to tap electronic trading for retail investors who want to invest in money and equity markets, as well as wealth management," he said. Source: Reuters