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ublicly listed lender CIMB Niaga says that third-party funds will be the key for growth amid slowing loan demand resulting from the economic slowdown.

CIMB Niaga president director Tigor M. Siahaan told reporters on Thursday that the company was facing slower loan growth, however, it saw an improvement in its current and saving account (CASA) ratio '€” the ratio of low-cost third-party funding from current and saving accounts to total deposits '€” to 47.7 percent by the end of September, compared to around 43-44 percent it recorded last year.

The country'€™s fifth-biggest lender by assets saw its total customer deposits grow by 11.3 percent yearly to Rp 185.72 trillion (US$13.5 billion) by the end of September, higher the 2.3 percent booked in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, its loans grew by 7.2 percent on an annual basis to Rp 17.89 trillion by the end of the third quarter this year, compared with 7.3 percent growth in the same period last year.

'€œWe cannot force our loans to grow. It is the demand, it is the trend,'€ Tigor said. '€œFunding is very important right now, growth in deposits is the key.'€

CIMB Niaga saw its actual net profits drop by 88.5 percent to Rp 265 billion during the first nine months of the year. Tigor said business was expected to remain slow until the end of the year, while emphasizing that provisioning and investment in technology were the top priority for the lender. JP/aml