Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Bank Mandiri, Indonesia`s largest lender by assets, saw its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) fall to 16 percent from 18 percent previously.

"The CAR currently stands at 16 percent, down from the previous 18 percent," Bank Mandiri President Director Zulkifli Zaini said on Thursday.

He said the CAR once rose to up to 18 percent when the bank obtained Rp11.6 trillion in funds from its rights issue.

Yet the CAR fell due to the bank`s credit expansion. The bank would always try to maintain its CAR at a level of above 13 percent, he said.

"We will always maintain it at a level of 13 percent. Therefore, when it reached a level of 13 percent some time ago we soon conducted a rights issue to raise it to 18 percent. Let`s wait when it reaches up to 13 percent or comes close to 13 percent we will try again to increase capital by means of rights issue or other methods," he said.

In the second quarter of 2011 Bank Mandiri`s total assets rose by 18.1 percent to Rp474.9 trillion from the same period last year.

The increase was among others fueled by annual credit growth which rose by 26.9 percent to Rp276.7 trillion from Rp217.9 trillion.

The bank posted a net profit of Rp6.3 trillion in the first semester of 2011, an increase of 56.7 percent compared to the same period last year when the figure was Rp2.3 trillion. (*)