Govt to focus on selling shares of listed SOEs

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government will focus on the sale of its remaining shares in publicly listed state-owned enterprises (SOEs) next year to help prop up the state budget deficit amid political uncertainty resulting from the elections, a senior official said.

Mahmuddin Yasin, deputy for privatization at the Office of State Minister of State Enterprises, said the government would prefer to sell its remaining shares in several SOEs to the public rather than privatizing non-listed SOEs next year.

He explained that the government planned to sell another 10 percent stake in Bank Mandiri, 15 percent in coal producer PT Batubara Bukit Asam, 14 percent in tin producer PT Timah, 14 percent in nickel and gold producer PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), and up to 30 percent in Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).

The government still has an 80 percent stake in Bank Mandiri, 99 percent in BNI, 65 percent in Antam and Timah as well as 83.74 in Bukit Asam.

For next year, the government has set a target of Rp 5 trillion (US$588 million) from the sale of assets in SOEs in order to help plug the state budget deficit which is estimated to reach Rp 24.4 trillion.

Mahmuddin said that the government would wait for an appropriate time next year to launch new privatization, because investors would likely wait until the end of the election season to see if it goes smoothly before putting more money into any projects, fearing political unrest and instability.

During the election, voters will choose legislators on April 5, the first round of the direct presidential election will be on July 5, with the second round on Sept. 20.

Mahmuddin said that the government would try to re-launch the privatization program for several companies next year. It had planned, but failed, to do it in recent years. The firms include airline company PT Merpati Airlines, finance company PT Danareksa Persero and airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I.

He also said that the government would also prepare to sell off other SOEs such as construction company PT Adhi Karya and plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara I via initial public offerings next year.

However, all the privatization efforts will be largely dependent on the country's political stability next year.