Jakarta.  State lender Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), which specializes in housing credits, posted a net profit of Rp 3.5 trillion ($222.8 million) in 2023 from just Rp 209 billion in 2019.

The bank disbursed Rp 334 trillion in credits last year, representing an 11.9 percent year-on-year growth. It managed Rp 349.93 trillion in public savings, up by 8.7 percent in the same period.

"Another achievement from 2023 is a 9.1 percent year-on-year rise in assets that reached Rp 440 trillion," BTN President Director Nixon Napitupulu said during an event celebrating the bank’s 74th anniversary in Jakarta on Sunday.

State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir said BTN has recovered from an internal crisis that caused its profit to plunge by 92 percent in 2019, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the housing business particularly hard.

The protracted financial difficulties prompted the government to conduct managerial change and business reform in BTN.

"I have said that the change in BTN isn’t as simple as introducing a new logo, but it should include measures to ensure a robust banking business. When I came [in 2019] BTN’s profit was only around Rp 200 billion but it now stands at Rp 3.5 trillion," Erick said.

BTN is expected to help the government realize the target of building 12.7 million houses for low-income families, he added.