Govt may delay divestment programs after bomb blast<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular
\nand Tony Hotland
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The government may have to delay the divestment of state-owned
\nenterprises (SOEs) in the remaining period of this year, after a
\nbomb exploded in front of the Australian Embassy on Thursday.<\/p>\n
State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi said the
\ngovernment would not force the sale of stakes in the SOEs unless
\ndomestic security conditions returned to normal and the market
\nhad regained its confidence.<\/p>\n
\"We will not force proceedings with the divestment programs if
\nthe market remains in an unfavorable condition following the
\nblast,\" said Laksamana after a hearing with the House of
\nRepresentatives' Commission IX on financial affairs.<\/p>\n
\"The privatization process will still continue. We are not
\ncanceling it, we're just delaying it,\" Laksamana said.<\/p>\n
Some SOEs likely to be affected by the delay include Bank
\nNegara Indonesia (BNI), the country's third largest bank in terms
\nof assets, and airliner PT Merpati Nusantara. The government
\nplans to sell state assets to help finance the state budget
\ndeficit, estimated at around Rp 26.3 trillion this year.<\/p>\n
The government plans to sell 30 percent of its stake in the
\npublicly listed BNI to investors on the stock market in October,
\nand as much as 51 percent of Merpati to strategic investors in
\nNovember.<\/p>\n
BNI shares are currently traded at 1.45 times their book value
\nof Rp 839.7 based on June's figures. The government has appointed
\nJPMorgan Chase & Co. and state brokerage firm Bahana Securities
\nto arrange the sale.<\/p>\n
The commission decided on Thursday to wait until next week on
\nwhether to approve the proposed divestment of BNI and Merpati.<\/p>\n
\"There are still different perceptions among the commission
\nmembers over the divestment of BNI and Merpati. We still need
\nsome time to seek clarification from the government over several
\nissues,\" commission chairman Emir Moeis said.<\/p>\n
Emir explained the commission would still need government
\nclarification regarding the settlement of BNI's Rp 1.7 trillion
\n(US$188 million) loan scandal, and on Merpati's latest debt
\nrestructuring program.<\/p>\n
The government has targeted to raise Rp 5 trillion from the
\nsale of shares in SOEs this year. So far, the government has
\nraised about Rp 3.6 trillion.<\/p>\n
The government, through asset-management firm PT Perusahaan
\nPengelola Asset (PPA) is currently in the process of selling a 51
\npercent stake in Bank Permata, the country's seventh-largest bank
\nby assets.<\/p>\n
\"We will not delay the tender process due to the blast. We are
\ngoing to seek confirmation from the participants (bidders) to see
\nwhether they are still committed to join the tender,\" said
\nSyahrial.<\/p>\n
Five business groupings -- the Standard Chartered and PT Astra
\nInternational; United Overseas Bank; Malayan Banking Bhd and PT
\nJamsostek; Commerce Asset-Holding; and Bank Panin and Australia &
\nNew Zealand Banking Group consortia -- are competing for the
\nPermata stake.<\/p>",
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