22 SMEs win approval to restructure debts
22 SMEs win approval to restructure debts
JAKARTA (JP): Twenty-two small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
with Rp 15.53 billion in outstanding debts have won approval from
their respective creditors to restructure their debts.
The companies are part of the 114 SMEs registered with the
Jakarta Initiative Task Force, the government-sponsored agency
that facilitates the debts of the private sector.
The Jakarta Initiative chief operating officer, Joseph
Luhukay, said on Friday that he hoped 29 more SMEs, with total
outstanding debts of Rp 64 billion, would soon sign similar debt
agreements.
The 29 companies have reached an initial agreement with their
respective bankers to restructure about Rp 12.5 billion of their
total debts, he said.
The companies include PT Karya Putra Pahlawan, which owes Rp
132 million to Bank Mandiri, PT Menara Garmentama which owes Rp
176 million also to Bank Mandiri, and PT Miasti Mungpratama which
owes Rp 500 million to Bank Rakyat Indonesia.
Joseph said the Jakarta Initiative often faced difficulties in
facilitating debt restructuring of SMEs because most of the
companies did not have reliable financial reports.
"We will cooperate with the economic faculty of Trisakti
University to help the SMEs prepare their financial reports," he
told a media briefing.
Some 2,200 private Indonesian companies have US$67 billion in
foreign debt and Rp 300 trillion in domestic debt.
Most companies stopped servicing and repaying their debts
after the rupiah's exchange rate plunged by about 80 percent last
year.
The government launched the Jakarta Initiative Task Force in
September 1998 to encourage debtors and creditors to reach
out-of-court debt settlements, a result preferred by the
government as the alternative of bankruptcy would lead to mass
layoffs.
Three hundred and four companies, with total outstanding debts
of $23.20 billion and Rp 14.62 trillion, have joined the debt
relief scheme provided by the Jakarta Initiative.
Of this number, 190 are large companies with total debts of
$23.19 billion and Rp 14.43 trillion, while 114 others are SMEs
with total debts of $1.02 million and Rp 197.62 billion.
Joseph said that of the large corporate debtors, 24 firms with
total debt of $3.25 billion and Rp 2.27 trillion had reached debt
restructuring agreements with their respective creditors. (udi)