Govt should sell all its assets: Kadin<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government should sell all its stakes in
\nstate-owned companies to foreign investors to gain more funds to
\nrestore the country's economy, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce
\nand Industry (Kadin) suggests.<\/p>\n
The chamber's chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, told members of the
\nHouse of Representatives yesterday that the government now needed
\nmore funds than ever to fuel and stimulate economic activities.<\/p>\n
\"The business sector thinks that the government must monetize
\nall its assets to get a large source of funds,\" he told a hearing
\nwith House Commission VIII for the state budget and finance, and
\nresearch and technology.<\/p>\n
Aburizal, widely known as Ical, said foreign investors should
\nbe able to own majority stakes in state companies.<\/p>\n
The government is currently in the process of privatizing 12
\nstate firms to raise Rp 15 trillion (US$1.07 billion) to help
\nfinance the huge budget deficit, which may reach 8.5 percent of
\ngross domestic product in the current fiscal year ending March
\n1999.<\/p>\n
Ical said that by selling its stakes in state companies, the
\ngovernment would gain much more than it currently did.<\/p>\n
Aside from higher sales value, the government would get more
\nin taxes from the companies, he said.<\/p>\n
The companies would likely be managed more efficiently by
\nforeign investors than they would under the government's
\nmanagement and they would in turn provide more job and prevent
\nmass lay-offs, he said.<\/p>\n
There would be no more untransparent reshuffling of key
\nexecutives as that often practiced by the government, he said.<\/p>\n
Ical dismissed suggestions that government should use its
\nassets as collateral to secure loans, saying the move would only
\nput the country into further debt.<\/p>\n
When the loans mature, the country might not even be able to
\npay the interest, he added.<\/p>\n
Asked whether selling the government's assets would be good
\nfor the country, he said \"So what?\"<\/p>\n
\"Why do we have to have assets? Why does the government have
\nto own a company? There is no use for it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Currently the government has some 160 state firms operating in
\na wide range of fields, from trading to public utilities. (das><\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-should-sell-all-its-assets-kadin-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}