Jakarta – The government plans to establish a gold bank or bullion bank in 2025. The Financial Services Authority (OJK) revealed a potential added value of up to Rp 30–50 trillion from the gold bank business.
The Chief Executive of Banking Supervision at OJK, Dian Ediana Rae, stated that Indonesia is one of the world’s leading gold producers and has significant gold reserves. Unfortunately, this potential has not been effectively managed.
To address this, the government is regulating business activities related to gold or bullion activities. Bullion-related businesses aim to maximize the added value from Indonesia’s gold resources, including gold from mining and gold stocks held by the public.
“Bullion business has the potential to increase retail gold consumption, which will drive growth in the gold industry and the entire gold ecosystem, generating additional value-added (VA) of up to Rp 30–50 trillion,” said Dian in a statement on Tuesday (24/12/2024).
Dian emphasized that the development of the bullion business would benefit three groups: the government, the public and business actors, and financial service institutions (LJK). OJK has issued a regulation (POJK) on Bullion, which is derived from Law No. 4 of 2023 on Financial Sector Development and Strengthening (P2SK). This law mandates that LJKs may conduct bullion-related business activities, including gold deposits, gold financing, gold trading, gold custody, and other related activities.
OJK, in collaboration with the government and other stakeholders, has actively coordinated efforts to prepare for the implementation of bullion business activities. These efforts include preparing the necessary supporting infrastructure and licensing processes. OJK continues to coordinate with the banking industry regarding this business.
Currently, Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) is proposed to manage Indonesia’s gold bank. The bank is in the process of preparing infrastructure before applying for a license to conduct bullion business activities, as stipulated by regulations.
“This initiative is a form of diversification that can expand business scale by monetizing gold deposits as a funding source, thereby deepening financial markets with an increasing variety of products offered as investment instruments,” Dian added.
Previously, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that the Bullion Bank regulations had been incorporated into the law and are set to be launched next year. Recently, Airlangga proposed that Indonesia’s gold bank be managed by PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BRI) and PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk (BSI).
“The law has been incorporated, and we hope it can be realized in the first semester of next year,” Airlangga said at the Raffles Hotel in South Jakarta on Tuesday (10/12/2024).
