Govt eyes more money from share sales

Govt eyes more money from share sales

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The government expects the Asset Management Company (PPA) to
raise its contribution to the treasury to Rp 7 trillion
(some US$718 million) this year via the sales of its remaining
shares in several banks, a finance ministry official said.

"We (the finance ministry) have asked the PPA to add another
Rp 2 trillion or 3 trillion to its Rp 4 trillion revenue target
for this year," head of the ministry's Economic, Financial and
International Collaboration Studies Agency, Anggito Abimanyu,
said on Friday.

Anggito explained that the new revenue target could be
achieved through the offering of all the remaining government
stakes in several banks by the end of this year, including a 5.09
percent share in the country's second largest lender by assets,
Bank Central Asia (BCA).

"We will divest all our bank stakes this year, except in Bank
Permata, which still needs approval from the House of
Representatives," he said.

"We have asked the PPA not to offer the shares cheaply, but at
a premium price, like when it sold the Danamon shares."

The government managed to sell its 10.5 percent stake in Bank
Danamon, the country's fifth largest lender, earlier this week
for Rp 2.68 trillion.

Ministry of Finance Jusuf Anwar said late on Thursday that the
government would offer its shares in BCA some time next month,
and hoped to be able to rake in some Rp 3 trillion in proceeds.

Apart from the BCA sale, the government has also secured
approval from the House to sell its 5.53 percent minority stake
in Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) and a 5.24 percent stake in
Bank Niaga.

Other bank share sales awaiting approval from the House,
meanwhile, include a 26.17 percent stake in Bank Permata, 28.39
percent stake in Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional, 6.08 percent
stake in MayBank Indocorp, 1.5 percent stake in LippoBank, and a
0.0005 percent stake in Bank Panin.

Replacing the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) last
year, the PPA acts as the state agency that manages state assets,
including shares in several banks acquired when the government
bailed them out from bankruptcy during the 1997 Asian financial
crisis.

Excluding the recent Danamon sale, the PPA has so far
generated some Rp 1.4 trillion in proceeds from bank share sales.

Meanwhile, State Minister for State Enterprises Sugiharto
expressed optimism that his office would be able to achieve this
year's SOE privatization target of Rp 3.5 trillion.

"I don't think it will be too difficult, given how favorable
the market has been lately," he said.

Later in the day, Sugiharto also said the government would
soon instruct several state enterprises to open a bidding process
to seek financial advisors to help the government decide on
merging or selling the companies.

"We will soon seek advisors to help us carry out the
government's blueprint for managing state enterprises. It will be
opened to both local and foreign advisors, depending on their
speciality," said Sugiharto at the Presidential Palace.

The government has planned to merge a number of state
enterprises and set up several holding companies to oversee
smaller state firms to help restructure and revitalize state
enterprises, the majority of which are in bad shape financially.

From a total of 158 state firms as of last year, 54 of them
will be merged into 21 while 38 will be included in 10 holding
companies and 66 would remain the same. -- JP