Govt pins more hopes on SOE dividends<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Upbeat that this year will be a profitable one for state-owned
\nenterprises (SOEs), State Minister for State Enterprises
\nSugiharto says the government will maximize their dividend
\npayments, rather than pushing for their privatization, to help
\nfinance the budget.<\/p>\n
\"Our focus in collecting revenues from SOEs for this year is
\nto increase the share of their profits that they pay to the
\ngovernment,\" Sugiharto said during a hearing on Monday with the
\nHouse of Representative's Commission VI for trade, industry and
\nSOEs.<\/p>\n
\"We will still consider selling stakes in the SOEs, but only
\nunder favorable market conditions. If the conditions are not
\nsuitable for privatizing the SOEs, then we will not push ahead
\nwith it.\"<\/p>\n
Therefore, Sugiharto said, focusing on dividend-derived
\nrevenue would be more reasonable and viable as the government
\nestimated that SOEs would do well this year, thus boosting their
\nrevenues and profits.<\/p>\n
\"We expect that dividend payments from SOEs will exceed the
\ntarget for this year, reaching somewhere between Rp 10.5 trillion
\nand Rp 12 trillion,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In the amended 2005 budget, the government has agreed with the
\nHouse budget commission on the collection of a total of Rp 12.4
\ntrillion (some US$1.3 billion) in revenues from SOEs, consisting
\nof Rp 8.9 trillion from SOE dividend payments and Rp 3.5 trillion
\nfrom privatizations.<\/p>\n
Sugiharto explained, however, that the dividends would start
\nto flow within the next two or three months, after all of the
\ncountry's 158 SOEs had held their shareholders meetings.<\/p>\n
\"Many will be holding their shareholders meetings at the end
\nof this month, when they will present their annual financial
\nreports and dividend proposals,\" he said.<\/p>\n
With regard to the privatization drive, the government would
\nstill have to consider this as the state budget included SOE
\nprivatization proceeds in its calculations.<\/p>\n
\"We are currently discussing this with the finance minister as
\nprivatization proceeds have been included as revenue to cover the
\ndeficit, while SOE dividend payments make up the main non-tax
\nstate revenues,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sugiharto declined, however, to say which SOEs would be put up
\nfor sale this year.<\/p>\n
\"Let's just say that privatization will be an ongoing process,
\nwith the timing, size and price of the sell-offs being adjusted
\nto take account of market conditions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The issue of SOE privatization has recently become a topic of
\npublic debate after Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that selling
\ngovernment stakes in SOEs would be the government's lowest
\npriority and that the government would not submit to
\nprivatization demands from donor institutions in return for their
\nloans.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie,
\nmeanwhile, insisted that the government had committed itself to
\nraising Rp 3.5 trillion in privatization proceeds and had to sell
\nthree major SOEs by the end of this year.<\/p>\n
Possible SOEs that could be sold include the three publicly listed state
\nbanks -- Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia and Bank Rakyat
\nIndonesia -- and three mining companies -- PT Aneka Tambang, PT
\nTambang Batubara Bukit Asam and PT Tambang Timah.<\/p>\n
Wrapping up the hearing, the Commission said that should
\nprivatization be undertaken, it should not only be carried out so
\nas to plug the budget deficit, but also so as to improve the
\nperformance of the SOEs concerned.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-pins-more-hopes-on-soe-dividends-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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