Govt to pay Asiatic, BDB depositors soon
Govt to pay Asiatic, BDB depositors soon
Urip Hudiono/Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Denpasar
The government said on Monday it would pay the depositors of the
closed down Bank Dagang Bali (BDB) and Bank Asiatic within two
weeks, as more than 100 depositors held a peaceful rally in front
of Bank Indonesia's Denpasar office.
Director General of Financial Institutions Darmin Nasution
said the government was in the process of verifying the
depositors.
"The government will screen out any depositors who are
affiliated with the banks' controlling owners or management and
will not compensate them," Darmin said.
Compensation for such depositors, Darmin said, would be taken
from funds obtained through the sale of the banks' assets, and
only after the funds were used to meet the banks' other
liabilities, including state taxes and employee remuneration.
The money to compensate the banks' other depositors,
meanwhile, will come from reserve funds in the government's 502
account or 519 account.
Darmin said BDB depositors would be compensated in several
stages -- starting with small deposits -- due to the bank's large
number of depositors.
The Denpasar-based BDB currently has 408,000 depositors, while
the Jakarta-based Bank Asiatic has 2,200 depositors.
The government must provide some Rp 2.39 trillion (US$281
million) in cash to cover the two banks' depositors as part of
its blanket guarantee program.
Bank Indonesia (BI) closed down Asiatic and BDB last Thursday
due to their worsening financial conditions, allegedly the result
of violations of prudential banking regulations and fictitious
transactions worth Rp 1.2 trillion.
Nervous BDB depositors in Denpasar held a demonstration at the
local office of the central bank to demand that the banking
authority provide clarification about the fate of their money.
In a convoy of motorbikes, the protesters left BDB's central
office in downtown Denpasar and moved to the BI office on Jl. WR
Supratman in eastern Denpasar.
"I am upset and confused. I want to be able to take my
deposited money as soon as possible but I don't know how to do
it," land broker Made Parma, 45, said.
Parma said he had over Rp 300 million in his account at BDB.
Another protester, I Putu Patra, 35, exhibited his bank book,
which showed that his last deposit was on March 26, bringing his
account to Rp 10 million.
"Do you think I will get my money back? That money is supposed
to be my kids' college money," he said.
The head of the Denpasar branch of BI, Lukman Boenjamin,
assured the crowd that their deposits were guaranteed and they
would receive all of their money.
Founded in 1970 by Bali businessman I Gusti Made Oka, BDB grew
into one of the largest banks on the island.
The bank was popular for its regular prize-drawings and
scholarship programs for depositors' children.