Bank Putera needs Rp 40b

JAKARTA (JP): Foreign exchange Bank Putera needs some Rp 40 billion (about US$4.7 million) to lift its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) to the required 4 percent minimum level set by the government, bank president Masyhud Ali said on Thursday.

He said the bank's CAR was minus 12.3 percent based on due diligence conducted by Price WaterhouseCoopers last year.

CAR is the ratio between capital and risk-weighted assets.

Banks eligible to join the government bank recapitalization program, in which the government will provide up to 80 percent of the funding and the banks the remaining 20 percent, have to have a CAR of between minus 25 percent and 4 percent.

Masyhud also said that Bank Indonesia had confirmed that the bank could join the recapitalization program.

"The shareholders of Bank Putera confirmed on Feb. 8 their readiness and informed Bank Indonesia on Feb. 11 that potential foreign investors had already deposited the necessary funds," he said. (rei)