House yet to give support to plan to revise MSAA<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives would only support
\nthe government's plan to revise an earlier agreement with former
\nbank owners after a thorough study has been completed, according
\nto House Speaker Akbar Tandjung.<\/p>\n
Akbar said on Wednesday that the government had agreed to form
\na joint investigation team with the House to study the
\ncontroversial agreement called the Master of Settlement and
\nAcquisition Agreement (MSAA).<\/p>\n
\"The government has said that it plans to revise the MSAA...
\nBut the House needs more time to study it first before we can
\ncome up with our final say,\" he told reporters in a joint press
\nconference with Finance Minister Bambang Sudibyo.<\/p>\n
\"The proposed revision will be a valuable input for us,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
He said that the team would work over the next two to three
\nweeks, but didn't give any deadline.<\/p>\n
The government, represented by Bambang, met with the House in
\nan apparent bid to seek support for its bid to force the powerful
\nand influential former bank owners to completely repay their
\nmulti-billion dollar debt to the government.<\/p>\n
The MSAA agreement was made during the previous administration
\nof president B.J. Habibie. Under the agreement, former owners of
\nfour private banks were allowed to surrender assets to the
\nIndonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to repay their debts.
\nThe banks included nationalized Bank Central Asia (BCA), the now
\ndefunct Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI), Bank Umum Nasional
\n(BUN) UN and Bank Subentra.<\/p>\n
The government, through the central bank, injected more than
\nRp 100 trillion in emergency liquidity support loans to the four
\nbanks during the peak of the country's financial crisis to
\nbailout the banks amid massive bank runs in 1998 and 1999.<\/p>\n
In addition to the MSAA, IBRA signed another less
\ncontroversial agreement called the Master of Refinancing
\nAgreement (MRA) with another group of former bank owners.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik
\nKian Gie was the first to raise the controversy surrounding the
\nMSAA. He said late last month that the present value of the
\nassets was much lower than the total obligations of the former
\nbank owners.<\/p>\n
Kwik said that the MSAA must be revised because under the
\nagreement it was the government which would cover any commercial
\nloss if the realized value of the assets turn out to be lower
\nthan the debt.<\/p>\n
Kwik pointed out as an example that the Salim Group, the
\nformer owner of BCA, had total debt of around Rp 52 trillion, but
\nthe more than 100 companies surrendered to IBRA are now only
\nworth around Rp 20 trillion, leaving the government and tax
\npayers to cover the difference.<\/p>\n
Bambang said that there were three main reasons why the MSAA
\nmust be revised.<\/p>\n
Firstly, the agreement was legally defective, benefiting the
\nformer bank owners at the expense of the government.<\/p>\n
\"It is an uneven agreement,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
\"Secondly, we have observed that the debtors have not complied
\neven to this inequitable agreement,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"And thirdly, there is evidence that the agreement was not
\nbased on good faith (of the former bank owners),\" he added.<\/p>\n
\"These reasons are enough to justify revision of the MSAA,\"
\nBambang said.<\/p>\n
He also said that according to his personal opinion, the
\nformer bank owners should be held responsible for any crimes they
\ncommitted in relation to the channeling of the liquidity supports
\neven if they have surrendered assets to repay their debts to the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
He said that the original MSAA tended to compromise banking
\ncrimes of the past.<\/p>\n
An audit made by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) revealed that
\nout of the Rp 144.5 trillion of the emergency liquidity support
\ninjected to 48 commercial banks, some Rp 138.4 trillion had been
\nmisused. BPK said that instead of repaying depositors, the banks
\nused the cheap loans for currency speculation or lending to
\naffiliated business groups, raising the possibility that the
\nbanks had breached the legal lending limit. (rei)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-yet-to-give-support-to-plan-to-revise-msaa-1447893297",
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