BI temporarily suspends Bank Putera's clearing activities
BI temporarily suspends Bank Putera's clearing activities
JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia has temporarily suspended the
clearing activities of Bank Putera after the bank's account
balance at the central bank hit the negative area.
"Bank Indonesia suspended our clearing activities today
(Tuesday) due to our negative balance," Bank Putera president
Masyhud Ali said on Tuesday.
However, Ali said Bank Putera, which is controlled by the
Texmaco Group, would inject on Wednesday morning the required
amount of cash to the central bank in order to settle the
negative balance.
A negative balance arises when a bank has more obligations
than claims to third parties.
If the negative balance is not immediately settled by a cash
injection by the concerned bank, Bank Indonesia will temporarily
suspend the bank's clearing activities.
Ali declined to disclose the required amount Bank Putera would
have to provide to the central bank to lift the clearing
suspension, but hinted the amount was much less than Bank
Putera's total assets.
He said Bank Putera's total assets as of November 1999 stood
at Rp 2.9 trillion with a net equity of Rp 440 billion.
Bank Putera is 98 percent owned by holding company Multikarsa
Investama of the Texmaco Group textile and heavy machinery
concern.
The group has been entangled in a Rp 9.65 trillion loan
controversy from state Bank Negara Indonesia involving former
president Soeharto.
Ali said depositors with Bank Putera started to rush to
withdraw their money on Monday. The rush continued until Tuesday
and finally led to the central bank clearing suspension.
"The rush was provoked by an Internet media report last
Saturday which gave false information about Bank Putera," he
said.
He said the report mistakenly quoted President Abdurrahman
Wahid, who is better known as Gus Dur, as implying that Bank
Putera had been transferred to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency (IBRA).
"The media report was not right. What Gus Dur said was
actually that non-bank Texmaco Group companies were transferred
to IBRA."
Ali said he hoped Bank Putera could clarify the misinformation
to the public and begin to operate normally again after providing
on Wednesday the required funds to settle its negative balance at
its central bank account.
Ali stressed that Bank Putera was grouped in the category "A"
banks, meaning its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) was above the 4
percent required level for a sound bank.
Banks in this category were not under the control of the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), Ali said, adding
that Bank Putera's CAR as of June this year stood at 12 percent.
(udi)