In a written statement in Jakarta on Wednesday, BNI said the repo agreement signings were conducted separately at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi-UFJ on Dec. 15, 2014; at JP Morgan Chase Bank on Dec. 18, 2014; and at HSBC on Jan. 9.

With the signing of the repo agreements, the three foreign banks are ready to carry out Repurchase Agreement (Repo) and Reverse Repurchase Agreement (Reverse Repo) transactions with BNI.

Since Bank Indonesia launched the Mini MRA on Dec. 18, 2013, only state-owned banks, private national banks, mixed banks and regional development banks have signed repo agreements. BNI is the first bank that has a repo agreement with foreign banks.

During this time, foreign banks operating in Indonesia have not yet participated in repo transactions and still depend on inter-bank financial market transactions to fulfill rupiah liquidity needs.

BNI financial institution and treasury director Suwoko Singoastro conveyed his support of the efforts to increase the transaction volume, which was '€œsecured'€ in nature by using underlying securities, hoping that the distribution of liquidity in the financial market could be more balanced and mitigate credit risks.

'€œWith the participation of foreign banks in Repo and Reverse Repo transactions, it is hoped that the repo market will be livelier and support deepening of the financial market,'€ he said.

As of now, BNI has signed repo agreements with around 47 banks and, since they were launched, the bank'€™s Repo and Reverse Repo transaction volume has amounted to Rp 28.45 trillion (US$2.25 billion).

'€œIn 2015, we are hoping to increase the number of banks signing the Mini MRA with BNI so our Repo and Reverse Repo transaction volume can continue to increase,'€ said Suwoko. (ebf)(+++)

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