Exporters unable to benefit from BEI<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Exporters have been unable to benefit from the
\nnewly established, state Bank Expor Indonesia (BEI) due to the
\nbank's strict lending terms, the secretary general of the
\nIndonesian Textile Association (API) said.<\/p>\n
API's secretary general, Irwandy Muslim Amien, admitted that
\nexporters have been reluctant to apply for loans from BEI as the
\nbank imposes terms many exporters could not comply with.<\/p>\n
\"BEI, for example, refuses to give loans to companies that
\nhave bad debts,\" Irwandy added.<\/p>\n
Irwandhy found this term insensitive because most companies
\nnow have bad debts due to the economic meltdown.<\/p>\n
BEI was established in May with a paid-up capital of Rp 3
\ntrillion (US$375 million at the current rate) to help finance the
\nimport of raw materials for export oriented companies.<\/p>\n
Irwandhy was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia as suggesting last
\nweek that BEI should be able to distinguish between companies
\nwhose bad loans arose due to mismanagement and ones that had
\nsuffered simply because of the currency crisis.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, he said, many companies with bad debts could
\nstill get export orders though they had to operate below designed
\ncapacity.<\/p>\n
He said if every company with bad debts was automatically
\ndenied access to new credit, the economy would never recover.<\/p>\n
He added that some 1,500 textile-related companies with total
\ndebts of Rp 7.9 trillion had now been put under the Indonesian
\nBank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).<\/p>\n
If all these companies were denied access to new loans, the
\nimpact would be devastating because textile and garment exports
\ntotaled $7.8 billion last year, up from $7.3 billion in 1997.<\/p>\n
\"Who's going to benefit from BEI if most exporters can't?\" he
\nasked.<\/p>\n
Irwandy suggested that the government establish an emergency
\nscheme to enable exporters with bad debts to get new loans from
\nBEI.<\/p>\n
Exporters doubted the ability of the bank to help them,
\nespecially after its executive said that the bank would provide
\nits loans through other banks.<\/p>\n
They were afraid that the two-step lending process would only
\nincrease costs and add red tape.<\/p>\n
However, BEI's president Bambang Hendrajatin assured companies
\nlast month that though the bank lends its funds through other
\ncommercial banks, their lending rates were still lower than
\nmarket rates.<\/p>\n
According to BEI, most of its loan financing was derived from
\nlow interest credit from the Japan Export and Import Bank, the
\nWorld Bank and the Asian Development Bank. (03)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/exporters-unable-to-benefit-from-bei-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}