BCA rush eases after Liem's TV appearance

JAKARTA (JP): The rush by depositors of Bank Central Asia (BCA), Indonesia's largest private bank, receded yesterday following an overnight TV appearance by its main shareholder, Liem Sioe Liong, who had earlier been rumored to have died.

Long lines of depositors still developed at some BCA branches in Jakarta yesterday morning, but they petered out as the message spread to worried depositors that Liem was alive and the bank was sound, Antara reported.

The news agency said lines at the bank's ATM counters were not as long as they were the day before.

Joining the lines yesterday were also people who returned to redeposit the money they withdrew the previous night.

BCA branches in Medan and Bandung reported that transactions returned to normal levels yesterday.

On Friday, depositors of the bank owned by the Salim Group rushed its branches, subbranches and ATMs in Jakarta and Medan.

The rush was sparked by rumors that BCA was closing its office in Singapore and that Liem, founder of the diversified Salim Group, had died. The jitters over BCA came only two weeks after the government closed 16 ailing private banks.

The rumors were quashed the same evening when Liem made a public appearance at the launching of a product by the Salim Group's subsidiary PT Indomobil in North Jakarta. His appearance was widely broadcast on TV and the story splashed across most headlines yesterday.

President Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and son Sigit Harjojudanto are the other shareholders of BCA.

BCA president Abdullah Ali said yesterday that about Rp 500 billion (US$147 million) was withdrawn during Friday's rush.

Abdullah said the bank would continue to serve its depositors and would let them withdraw large deposits.

"We've prepared about Rp 5 billion for withdrawals today (yesterday)," he said in a phone interview with private television network, RCTI.

Antara reported that 200 customers lined up at the BCA Cimanggis branch in Bogor regency yesterday.

Some customers who swarmed the BCA Dewi Sartika branch in East Jakarta at about 8 a.m. canceled their withdrawal plans when they realized the bank did not impose a limit on withdrawals.

Manager Suhandy Purwaraharja said his branch had received extra funds yesterday to prepare for large withdrawals, but much of it was unneeded.

"We came prepared with Rp 3 billion, but after seeing that the situation had returned to normal, we returned Rp 1 billion," Suhandy said, adding that the branch usually kept about Rp 700 million in funds.

All BCA branches were ordered to remain open longer yesterday should the rush continue and to meet any demand for large withdrawals. But with the rush subsiding near midday, most branches closed at about 1 p.m. (das)