Wanted new IBRA chief: Must be clean and capable<\/p>\n
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Now that the government has said it wants to replace the
\nchairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), the
\nnext question to ask is what qualities should the new chairman
\nhave to run the powerful agency in the most appropriate manner.<\/p>\n
The new IBRA chief must have strong networking and leadership
\nabilities, and sound knowledge of the finance and banking sector.<\/p>\n
To go with that is integrity, credibility and the skill to
\nstay independent, according to banking analysts Elvyn G. Masassya
\nand Ryan Kiryanto.<\/p>\n
Over the last few weeks, rumors have abounded that the
\ngovernment might fire IBRA chairman I Putu Gede Ary Suta over a
\nnumber of decisions he made that drew public fire.<\/p>\n
They range from the sale of PT Indomobil Sukses International
\nto a consortium analyst suspected of links with Indomobil's
\nformer owner, the Salim Group, to plans for more generous debt
\npayment terms for debtors who admitted to have misused billions
\nof dollars of state funds.<\/p>\n
IBRA's fading credibility reached its low-point when it was
\ndenied the authority to determine the winning bidder in the high-
\nprofile sale of a controlling stake in Bank Central Asia (BCA).<\/p>\n
State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi took
\nover the process, citing he wanted to ensure credibility.<\/p>\n
Laksamana, who supervises IBRA, confirmed plans to replace Ary
\nSuta, although the latter declined to confirm the news.<\/p>\n
IBRA controls around Rp 600 trillion (about US$60 billion)
\nworth of assets transferred from ailing banks the government
\nbailed out during the late 1990s financial crisis.<\/p>\n
The agency is now mandated to restructure the assets and sell
\nthem to recover the cost of bailing out the banks. The proceeds
\nare used to help cover the state budget's deficit.<\/p>\n
Elvyn said that whoever would take IBRA's top post faced an
\nuphill battle of restructuring banks and improving the agency's
\nrecovery rates through asset sales.<\/p>\n
He said the previous chairmen fell short of doing either well.<\/p>\n
\"That's why another important point is to have a chairman with
\na proven ability to strike deals,\" Elvyn told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said a chairman like that would prevent the agency from
\nbecoming too preoccupied with divestment talks leading to the
\nneglect of banks under its care.<\/p>\n
\"So far, IBRA has been boasting about its target-achieving
\nfeats, without giving much thought to the country's banking
\nsector as a whole,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But analysts laid much of the blame for IBRA's poor
\nperformance on too much politicking eroding the chairman's
\nauthority.<\/p>\n
In the four years since it was set up, the agency has seen
\nfive changes in leadership.<\/p>\n
Ary Suta's appointment mid last year was widely perceived as
\none of former president Abdurrahman Wahid's last efforts to fend
\noff the increasing threat of impeachment.<\/p>\n
The previous five chairmen were: Edwin Gerungan, Cacuk
\nSudarijanto, Glenn Yusuf, Iwan Prawiranata and Bambang Subianto.<\/p>\n
BNI economist Ryan said the new IBRA chairman should remain
\nindependent, including from political considerations.<\/p>\n
He said the chairman's independency was vital not only to
\navoiding political interference but also to maintaining the
\npublic's confidence in its policies.<\/p>\n
But Ryan and Elvyn agreed that the seventh chairman of IBRA
\nshould also be the last one, as the agency is facing its final
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Established in 1998, IBRA is set to wrap up its work by 2004.<\/p>\n
\"You can see for yourself, after six chairmen, IBRA's
\nperformance is going nowhere yet it continues to draw
\ncontroversy,\" Ryan said.<\/p>\n
In its remaining two years, he said the agency should focus on
\nrestructuring the banking sector.<\/p>\n
People touted to replace Ary Suta are economist Arif Arryman,
\nBank Danamon president Arwin Rasyid and one-time banker and
\nformer president of Garuda Indonesia, Abdul Gani.<\/p>\n
Arif is a commissioner at BNI and also the managing director
\nof the Econit Advisory Group, a private think tank founded by
\nformer coordinating minister for the economy Rizal Ramli.
\nLaksamana was once also a member of the group.<\/p>\n
Arwin is the president of publicly listed Bank Danamon and was
\npreviously a deputy chairman at IBRA, while former Bank Duta
\nexecutive Abdul Gani managed to turn around the ailing Garuda
\ninto an award-winning airline.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wanted-new-ibra-chief-must-be-clean-and-capable-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}