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