IBRA aims to collect $3.3b in 2000 fiscal year

JAKARTA (JP): Despite its slowness in achieving revenue target for the current budget year, the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) has set an ambitious target of Rp 24.7 trillion (US$3.3 billion) from asset sales and loan recoveries for the 2000 fiscal year beginning in April.

IBRA chairman Cacuk Sudarijanto said at a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission IX on banking and finance that the agency was confident of surpassing the government-set target of Rp 16.2 trillion for the nine-month 2000 budget.

"With support from all of you (legislators), we are confident we can raise that amount of money to help the government finance its budget deficit," he said.

Cacuk said the agency's asset management investment unit (AMI), whose main responsibility is selling IBRA stakes in companies under its control, should contribute about Rp 9.5 trillion for year 2000.

The agency's asset management credit (AMC) unit, which mostly collects principle and interest payments from debtors under IBRA control, should collect Rp 13.9 trillion.

The agency also expects to collect about Rp 1.15 trillion from other sources, including from auctions of non-core assets.

Cacuk also said the agency was also confident of achieving the government-set target of Rp 17 trillion for the current budget year, ending in March 31.

The agency had so far earned Rp 10.5 trillion from assets sales and loan recoveries, he said. However, IBRA deputy chairman Arwin Rasyid said earlier that the agency had raised more than Rp 12 trillion.

An official at IBRA said this discrepancy resulted from the interpretation of data. Cacuk's figure, the official said, covers only the actual money already held by IBRA.

Meanwhile, IBRA deputy chairman for asset management credit unit (AMC) Eko S. Budianto said his unit had thus far contributed a total of Rp 5.2 trillion, of which Rp 5 trillion had come from principal and interest payments from debtors under its control and Rp 222.7 billion from recent auctions of non-core assets.

He said his AMC unit would have to collect Rp 200 billion more to reach the target for the unit of Rp 5.4 trillion.

"I'm confident we are very likely to reach that figure," he said after the hearing.

The AMC unit, Eko said, collected Rp 385 billion in January alone.

Meanwhile, Dasa Sutanto, a group head at the asset management investment unit, said that AMI contributed Rp 3.6 trillion to the agency, mostly from sales of IBRA stakes in various companies pledged by owners of banks taken over by the agency or closed down by the government.

The AMI unit is set to contribute the largest sum to IBRA from sales of assets under its control. It is still about Rp 6 trillion short of the target.

Because of the unit's slowness in selling assets, the government last week replaced Farid Harianto as AMI chief with Mahmuddin Yasin.

The AMI unit has targeted collecting about Rp 6 trillion from sales of IBRA stakes in automaker PT Astra International and in Bank Central Asia (BCA).

IBRA is aiming to float BCA's stocks on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) in March, and expects to raise about Rp 3 trillion.

The exchange's management has given its clearance for BCA to conduct an initial public offering of shares, despite the fact that it booked a huge loss last year.

Under JSX's prevailing rules, only companies that have booked profits for the past two years are eligible to offer shares through the exchange.

IBRA, however, has had difficulties selling its 45 percent stake in Astra, which the agency expects to sell for about Rp 3 trillion.

In a move to expedite sales of its stake in Astra, IBRA removed Astra president Rini Soewandi on Thursday and appointed former Astra president Theodore Rachmat to replace her through an extraordinary shareholders meeting.

IBRA has accused the Rini-led management team of obstructing the sale process of IBRA's stake in Astra to a U.S. investor consortium.

With the change in Astra's management, IBRA is aiming to sell Astra's stake by March 25. (rid)