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