Tanri Abeng denies interfering with IBRA's work<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of the Empowerment of State
\nEnterprises Tanri Abeng denied on Wednesday allegations that he
\nwas blocking Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) attempts
\nto recover nonperforming state bank loans.<\/p>\n
\"The concept is already clear that the nonperforming loans
\nwill only be managed by IBRA,\" he said at a press conference on
\nthe restructuring plans of state enterprises.<\/p>\n
He promised all related documents would be handed over to IBRA
\nto allow the agency to accelerate efforts in the recovery of the
\nloans.<\/p>\n
\"But sorting out the documentation takes quite some time,\" he
\nsaid, pointing out that one businessman could hold numerous
\naccounts with the state banks, and the debts may not necessarily
\nfall under the nonperforming category.<\/p>\n
He said the banks needed more time to ensure the loans
\ntransferred to IBRA were categorized as bad debts.<\/p>\n
IBRA has assumed over Rp 100 trillion in nonperforming loans
\nfrom the country's seven state banks alone, namely Bank Bumi
\nDaya, Bank Dagang Negara, Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia, Bank
\nPembangunan Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Rakyat
\nIndonesia and Bank Tabungan Negara.<\/p>\n
But IBRA has become an economic mammoth, controlling over Rp
\n220 trillion of nonperforming assets from state and private banks
\nand US$10.5 billion in corporate assets pledged by bank owners to
\nrepay government debts and trillions of rupiah of non-core bank
\nassets.<\/p>\n
The agency has been given four years to sell the assets to
\nhelp finance the government bank restructuring program.<\/p>\n
In the latest letter of intent to the International Monetary
\nFund, the government said IBRA would focus on reaching a
\nrestructuring agreement with the 20 largest debtors.<\/p>\n
Debtors failing to reach a restructuring agreement will be
\nliquidated. The restructuring process is expected to start by the
\nend of August. Documentation concerning the nonperforming loans
\nof the 20 largest debtors is expected to be completed by the end
\nof this month.<\/p>\n
But IBRA deputy chairman Eko S. Budianto said last week the
\nnecessary documents received by the agency so far only
\nrepresented 10 percent of the nonperforming loans.<\/p>\n
His comments raised concerns that the government was dragging
\nits feet in the efforts to restructure the nonperforming loans of
\nthe 20 largest debtors, particularly as they are well-connected
\nbusinessmen.<\/p>\n
The government also decided to return to state banks the
\nmanagement of nonperforming loans of less than Rp 25 billion,
\nalso raising speculation that the government had succumbed to
\npressure from the businessmen.<\/p>\n
Some have suspected that Tanri was intruding with IBRA's work
\nto restructure the nonperforming assets of the state banks, which
\nwould provoke the indebted conglomerates, as they may risk losing
\ntheir business empires.<\/p>\n
Economist Sri Mulyani said the credibility of IBRA had been
\nquestioned as too many political interests had interfered with
\nthe agency.<\/p>\n
She said a credible debt restructuring program was essential
\nfor the recovery of the crisis-hit economy.<\/p>\n
Head of the Supreme Audit Agency Satrio B. Joedono said early
\nthis week the agency would audit IBRA \"in the near future\",
\nfollowing strong accountability demands from the public.<\/p>\n
But economist Anwar Nasution warned that if too many people
\nasked too many questions of IBRA, the agency would no longer have
\nenough time to work. (rei)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tanri-abeng-denies-interfering-with-ibras-work-1447893297",
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