Indonesia regulator eases lending rules for electric vehicles

JAKARTA: Indonesia has eased lending rules for the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs) and on business loans linked to their manufacturing in a bid to boost investment in the sector, the financial services authority (OJK) said on Friday.

In a statement, OJK said it ha eased rules on credit assessments and risk calculations for loans to buyers of EVs as well as for industries manufacturing components and batteries.

It also said loans related to the development of infrastructure, such as charging stations, could be exempt from limits set by OJK.

The move follows the government's 2019 regulation aimed at accelerating the development of domestic electric vehicle industries, it said.

Indonesia is keen to create a full nickel supply chain industry, starting from mining the ore, extract nickel chemicals used in EV batteries, down to building EVs at home.

Indonesia this year stopped exports of unprocessed nickel ore to ensure its nickel supply will be processed domestically, including for the battery chemical plants that are currently under constructions.

The central bank also removed loan downpayment requirements for purchases of environmentally-friendly vehicles for lenders with low non-performing ratio levels in its last policy meeting in a bid to boost consumption.

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