Indonesia's BRI Syariah sees doubling in assets

JAKARTA, June 12 (Reuters) - Indonesian Islamic lender PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Syariah (BRI Syariah) expects its assets to double to 3 trillion rupiah ($297.6 million) by the end of the year, the bank's top official told Reuters.

Indonesia is seen as a prime market for Islamic finance with around 85 percent of its population of 226 million people following Islam, although growth has been slow.

The central bank in January forecast that sharia banks would account for 3 percent of total banking industry assets this year, compared to just over 2 percent of the national banking assets in 2008, far lower than its neighbour Malaysia and Singapore.

"Our assets are at about 1.5 trillion rupiah and we hope they will increase to 3 trillion rupiah by the end of the year," chief director Ventje Raharjo said late on Thursday.

The world's largest populated Muslim country has been lagging in developing sharia banking, due to factors such as tax regulations and a lack of expertise.

The bank had also secured an additional 500 billion rupiah of funds to double its working capital to 1 trillion rupiah.

"It will be used for investment, strengthening the infrastructure and expanding business," Raharjo said.

He added the bank would focus more on low- and middle-income segments, in line with its parent company, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk (BBRI.JK: Quote, Profile, Research).

Most Islamic-based banks and sharia banking divisions in the country have provided financing for small- and medium- sized enterprises, focusing on agriculture, manufacturing, and trading sectors as well as business services.

Indonesia has five sharia banks and 25 commercial banks with sharia units, as of April 2009, central bank data showed. ($1 = 10,080 rupiah) (Reporting by Sonya Angraini; Editing by Ed Davies)