IBRA chief Cacuk confident of meeting sales target
IBRA chief Cacuk confident of meeting sales target
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): The new chairman of the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency said Monday he's confident of selling enough
assets by the end of March to meet its target for the current
budget.
In an interview with CNBC Asia, Cacuk Sudarijanto also said he
didn't plan to come up with a new strategy to push through sales
at IBRA, pledging instead to continue the approach of the
agency's first chairman, Glenn Yusuf.
"I prefer to continue (Glenn's) strategy, what he already did,
especially (as regards) staffing, prioritizing and the disposal
program," Cacuk told the television station.
"We have a budget target to submit to the government the
required amount of Rp 17 trillion (US$2.4 billion) by the end of
the month," he continued.
IBRA has been tasked with raising Rp 16.2 trillion for the
nine-month 2000 state budget beginning in April.
The new chairman said IBRA was determined to "speed up
results" and make the agency's work more effective and
transparent.
Cacuk was appointed to the influential role of IBRA chairman
earlier in January, ending months of speculation about the future
of Glenn, whose position was weakened by the Bank Bali corruption
scandal.
As a close confidante of President Abdurrahman Wahid, Cacuk
has pledged to push through the sale of a stake in auto maker PT
Astra International and list a chunk of Bank Central Asia on the
market by the end of the current fiscal year, ending March 31.
IBRA is tasked with raising Rp 17 trillion for the budget, but
so far hasn't even raised half that.
Cacuk said he's confident that IBRA can close the Astra sale
by the end of March.
The sale has run into difficulties as Astra management has
questioned the procedures and manners in which the agency has
moved to sell its 40 percent stake to an investor consortium led
by Newbridge Capital Inc. of the U.S.
In response to opposition from Astra, IBRA has tabled a motion
for an emergency Astra shareholders meeting on Feb. 8 to replace
some of the management.
Pushing through the Astra sale in a transparent manner is key
to reviving international confidence in IBRA and to closing
further sales, analysts say.
The 2000 budget, released last week, has charged the agency
with raising Rp 16.25 trillion in asset sales in the period from
April 1 to Dec. 31, to help finance bank recapitalization.
Many analysts reckon the target is far too optimistic, given
the likelihood that IBRA will have to sell assets at a
significant discount.