Bapepam issues new rule

JAKARTA (JP): The Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) issued a new ruling on Wednesday allowing publicly listed companies to carry over their foreign exchange losses arising from the rupiah's sharp depreciation against the U.S. dollar to the following years.

The agency said that listed firms would have to clearly state the amount of foreign exchange losses to be carried over and the amount of foreign exchange losses to be charged in the current year if they want to benefit from the tax incentive.

The head of the agency's accounting division, Indarto, said that the new ruling would prevent Indonesia's cash-strapped companies from posting negative equity on their balance sheets and from being delisted from the local exchange.

Last month, the agency issued several new rulings, including regulations related to the revaluation of assets and the simplification of the limited public offering procedure to help listed firms improve their capital structure. (aly)