JAKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The strong commitment of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. (IDX: BBRI) to implementing sustainable financial practices is recognized globally. Most recently, BRI has received two prestigious awards as 'The Best Issuer for Sustainable Finance' and 'Best Sustainability Linked Loan' from The Asset Triple A, an Asia-based research and business news publisher in the financial industry.

Ahmad Solichin Lufiyanto, BRI's Director of Compliance, has dedicated the awards to all Insan BRILiaN (BRI employees) who have always given their best in empowering SMEs. "BRI recognizes the significance of sustainable finance, especially as one of the banks with a core focus on supporting SMEs that holds a significant influence on the Indonesian economy. We take pride in this recognition as it serves as a global validation of our sustainable financial practices."

BRI's strong portfolio in sustainable finance was reflected in BRI's ESG financing portfolio in December 2022 of IDR 695 trillion, or 67.5% of the total credit disbursed by BRI, growing by 13.1% Year-on-Year (YoY).

Of the total amount, IDR 616.1 trillion is allocated to the MSME sector, followed by IDR 51.8 trillion for sustainable management of biological resources and lands, and IDR 7.1 trillion for renewable energy sector.

BRI's success in securing a syndicated loan in the form of a Sustainability-Linked Loan (SLL) worth USD 1 billion, played a significant role in earning the recognition from The Asset. Notably, BRI became the first financial institution in Southeast Asia to achieve this.

The SLL is one of the financial benefits that BRI has gained through the implementation of ESG as it provides ease for borrowers who implement sustainability in their business practices. In this loan scheme, companies are given incentives for their performance in achieving a set of Sustainability Performance Targets (SPTs) in the form of preferential interest rates. Conversely, a penalty margin will be imposed if the companies fail to achieve the SPTs.

"The SLL helps BRI to measure the overall performance of ESG implementations. This also becomes a platform for BRI to promote our ESG implementations to the public, especially stakeholders, thus indirectly increasing the company's brand value," concluded Achmad Royadi, BRI's SEVP Treasury & Global Services.

To learn more about BRI, visit www.bri.co.id .