Govt to sell stake in BCA

Govt to sell stake in BCA

JAKARTA: The government plans to sell its remaining stake in Bank Central Asia (BCA), the country's second largest lender by assets, via the stock market, an official at the asset-sale agency said.

"We are prepared to sell the stake at any time" after the finance ministry approves the sale, Renny Rorong, a spokesman for PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset, as the agency is known, said in a telephone interview in Jakarta.

The government has been selling stakes in banks and other companies it acquired after the 1997 Asian financial crisis to cover its budget deficit, estimated at more than Rp 17.4 trillion (US$1.87 billion) this year, and recoup part of the more than Rp 450 trillion it spent on bank bailouts.

The government owns 5.02 percent of BCA, valued at Rp 2.36 trillion at the current market price. Shares of BCA, which have risen 28.6 percent this year, rose Rp 125 or 3.4 percent to Rp 3,825 at the close of trading on the Jakarta Stock exchange on Monday -- Bloomberg