INDONESIA'S BANK NISP TO RECEIVE US$50 MLN IN IFC CREDIT.

JAKARTA, Nov 1 Asia Pulse - Indonesia's publicly-listed Bank NISP (JSX:NISP) won approval of Bank Indonesia for a credit facility totaling US$50 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) at an interest rate of less than 12 per cent, a spokesman said.

Bank NISP would decide whether or not to use the fund in the first quarter of 2007, the bank's director Pramukti Surjaudaja said after a public presentation here Tuesday.

Asked if Bank NISP was ready to become a national bank, Pramukti said the bank would first increase its capital through an IPO, rights issue and a loan.

Bank NISP would likely lower its interest rate from 15 per cent to 14 per cent in line with an expectation that Bank Indonesia would cut its promissory note interest rate further to 10 per cent from 10.75 per cent later this year.

Pramukti also said Bank NISP's net profit rose by 105 per cent to Rp171.5 billion (US$18.8 million) in the third quarter of this year from Rp83.8 billion in the corresponding period of last year.

He attributed the bank's improved performance to Indonesian macro-economic growth and to an increase in net interest income by 21 per cent to ...