BCA rush eases after Liem's TV appearance

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billion (US$147 million) was withdrawn during Friday's rush.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)