IBRA raises Rp 5.7t revenue

IBRA raises Rp 5.7t revenue

JAKARTA: The Indonesia Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) raised Rp
5.7 trillion in revenues during the first quarter, said an agency
official.

IBRA's Chairman Syafruddin Temenggung said late Wednesday that
the amount surpassed IBRA's target of raising Rp 3 trillion in
the first quarter of the year.

The revenues were garnered from the sale of bad loans, debt
collections and sales of property assets.

IBRA, which was established in early 1998, is tasked to
recover nearly Rp 300 trillion in banks' bad loans and to sell
assets pledged by former bank owners to settle their obligations
with the government.

IBRA is racing against time to sell the assets before it will
be dissolved at the end of the year. It's aiming to raise Rp 18
trillion this year to help finance the deficit in the state
budget.

It's in the midst of selling Bank Danamon Indonesia, from
which it expects to raise $400 million. -- Dow Jones

;
ANPAf..r..
Moneymatter-SKorea-BSI-dropped
Korean business confidence down
JP/16/

Korean business confidence down

SEOUL: South Korea's business confidence index slumped into a
"crisis phase" in April, the Federation of Korean Industries said
in a monthly report on Thursday.

The federation said its business survey index (BSI) dropped to
90.2 points in April from 109.0 in March, indicating the economy
was in a "crisis phase."

The month-on-month fall was the biggest since June 2002 when
the index dropped 21.2 points.

"Taking into account recently weaker economic data and the
sharp fall in April's business confidence index, it looks like
the economy is in a crisis phase," the federation of South
Korea's major business groups or chaebol said.

The performance-based BSI, an indicator measuring actual
corporate business activities, stood at 89.3 in March, its fifth
month in a row below the benchmark 100.

"Corporate business sentiment is drastically deteriorating due
to external negatives, such as higher oil prices, the war in
Iraq, and tension with North Korea," the report said. -- AFP

;
ANPAf..r..
Moneymatter-Aussie-vacancies-up
Australian job vacancies up 14.9%
JP/16/

Australian job vacancies up 14.9%

SYDNEY: Job vacancies in Australia jumped 14.9 percent in the
three months to February, according to official figures released
on Thursday, which analysts said showed surprising strength in
the labor market.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said job vacancies
were 22.2 percent higher than at the same time last year.

The rise was a return to positive territory after vacancies
fell 3.5 percent in the previous quarter, and follows a fall in
the unemployment rate to six percent in February, the equal
lowest rate in 13 years.

Markets had been expecting another fall in job vacancy figures
but Westpac economist Andrew Hanlan said the figures pointed to a
resilient employment market.

"The data offers not just a stark argument against a
significant downturn in the labor market, but suggests recent
labor force surveys may not be overstating employment growth by
as much as some think," he said.

"If this is true then you would expect to see a significant
improvement in retail sales, which have come off the boil in
recent months." -- AFP