Cacuk appointed as IBRA senior vice chairman

JAKARTA (JP): The government has appointed a former president of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia as senior vice chairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) in its continuing effort to restructure the agency.

Finance minister Bambang Sudibyo said on Tuesday that Cacuk Sudarijanto's appointment was stipulated in a presidential decree issued on Monday.

"The President (Abdurrahman Wahid) issued yesterday a decree on the new organizational structure of IBRA," he told a news conference.

He said Glenn S. Yusuf remained chairman of IBRA.

Bambang said IBRA also remained under his ministry with five deputies.

He said Cacuk was appointed because of his good track record in leading state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom and his strong integrity.

Cacuk was considered one of the country's brilliant young managers when he headed Telkom in the early 1990s.

His career stalled when he was removed from PT Telkom in 1992. He was rumored to have been tough on relatives and business cronies of then president Soeharto who were seeking to increase their business gains through the company.

Cacuk was appointed the director general of small and medium scale enterprises at the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises during the brief administration of B.J. Habibie. He later resigned from the post to head a social organization linked to the People's Sovereign Party, a small political party.

IBRA, a unit of the finance ministry, was launched in early 1998 with a mission to help restructure the country's beleaguered banking sector and raise money to finance the program.

The agency controls some Rp 600 trillion (about US$85.70 billion) worth of banking assets, including some Rp 230 trillion in nonperforming bank loans, making it as the largest and most powerful economic institution in the country.

Bambang is among those who have criticized IBRA for being slow in recovering the banks' assets, particularly in dealing with bad debtors, who are mostly well-connected businesspeople.

The agency is targeting raising Rp 17 trillion in the current fiscal year, of which more than Rp 9 trillion has been fulfilled. The agency said it was optimistic it would be able to reach the target.

Proceeds will be used to help finance the interest rate of the bonds issued by the government to finance the bank restructuring and recapitalization programs.

IBRA is targeting raising Rp 28.5 trillion next year.

Bambang acknowledged he picked Cacuk but said he consulted Abdurrahman about the decision.

Since Bambang took office in October, there has been speculation that he is moving to replace Glenn.

But Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie dismissed the reports and said Glenn would not be replaced.

Bambang also said on Monday that Glenn would still report to both the President and the finance minister. (rei)