Bankers are banking on stronger consumer lending to take the lead in an otherwise slow year, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers Indonesia survey. The PwC survey involved 65 banking executives from 49 banks, and showed that 71% of respondents believed consumer lending would grow more than 10%, considerably higher than 57% of respondents in 2017, Antara reported. Bankers were more optimistic about the consumer lending performance this year, as Indonesians’ purchasing power was on an upward trend, the advisor to PwC Indonesia, Siew Chan-Cheong, said. “I think the overall trend is that the population is getting richer, per capita income is on an upward trend, and in the long run, purchasing power is also on an upward trend, which is an attractive market for banks and many other businesses,” he said. Most respondents projected that the mortgage sector, followed by credit cards and other consumption lending such as car loans and micro loans, would boost consumer lending. As for overall loan growth, 38% of respondents projected growth of 10% to 15%, compared to 27% of respondents last year.
