Govt eyes Rp 20t from state firms

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is optimistic that it will be able to raise proceeds from state enterprises by close to double the amount it collected this year, on the back of higher economic growth and operational restructuring.

Staff expert for State Minister of State Enterprises Aries Mufti said on Thursday the ministry was eying dividend payments from state enterprises by at least Rp 20 trillion (US$1.96 billion) next year from this year's realization of some Rp 12 trillion.

"We are optimistic that we can double state revenues from dividends next year following an expected strong performance from the state enterprises," Aries said after meeting Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

The government has proposed a total of Rp 12.5 trillion in dividend payments from the companies, and Rp 4.5 trillion from privatization sales to help finance the 2006 state budget.

For this year, the government is forecasting Rp 8.9 trillion in dividend payments and Rp 3.5 trillion from privatization.

Aries, who is also a commissioner for national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, said next year's dividend payments would be derived from a total net profit accumulated from 145 state enterprises, which was estimated to reach at least Rp 40 trillion.

For this year, the companies are estimated to book at least a total of Rp 30 trillion in net profit, with telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) and oil and gas company PT Pertamina contributing the lion's share.

Aries said that with the higher dividend target, the ministry was hoping it could scrap the sales to private entities for several state enterprises, which was projected to reach 0.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) next year.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy with a GDP of more than US$250 billion, is hoping to record economic growth of 6.1 percent next year from this year's estimation of around 5.7 percent.

Aries also said the ministry was aiming to reduce the number of loss-making state enterprises to under 22 this year.